Beyond Control
by Phoenix Ride
Summary: The day the turtles have feared has finally come! Shredder has completed his mind control formula and declares war across New York. Can the Mighty Mutanimals and the Ninja Turtles stop this horror in time, or will they fall deep into the Shredder's grasp? Please Read, Review, and Find Out!
1. Chapter 1: The Test Subject

**Beyond Control**

**By: Phoenix Ride**

**Ch.1: The Test Subject**

In this world, light and darkness coincide in a never-ending war, battling within the souls of every being on Earth. Most of the time, people are free to which side they want to be dominant, but when the path is chosen for you, unexpected horrors could result.

Right at this moment, a wretched villain sat perched on his throne, seeking to achieve just that.

Impatiently, his fingers tapped against the rest of his chair, when the big, double doors pushed in, allowing one of his henchmen to enter the room. Leaning down on one knee, the tiger bowed.

"Master Shredder" spoke Tiger Claw " the report is in. The mixture is ready."

"Excellent" said Shredder, standing up from his throne" prepare the test."

* * *

With that said, a few moments later, both Shredder and Tiger Claw walked into Baxter Stockman's lab, where the mutated fly hovered busily above his notes, looking over all the formulas he had written down. He practically jumped when Shredder called out his name.

"Stockman" said Shredder, glaring at the fly " bring out the subject."

"Yes Master," said Stockman, flying over to one of the cages in his lab.

When he pushed the release button and the door swung open, nothing but darkness could be seen behind, that is until a small cry of trembling joy shouted out, and a dirty figure stumbled into the light.

There, shaking on the floor, was a pathetic-looking man from Don Vizciozo's gang, a gang now like many others Shredder now thoroughly controlled. He looked up at his new master weary and weak, a small flicker of rebellion burning in his eyes.

Just a few days ago, this man foolishly thought he could destroy the Shredder so that the Don could claim his spot as the official kingpin of this town. He had suffered greatly for his mistake.

Starved, beaten, thirsty, and skin paled due to lack of light, this man who was once strong was nothing more than a pitiful toothpick in the wind.

However, despite all that had happened to this man so far, Shredder wanted his him to suffer more.

"Proceed," Shredder commanded Stockman.

Nodding that he understood, Baxter Stockman flew over to one of his lab tables where a rack of vails stood. Inside each of the vails a different chemical glowed, but it was one that contained the red liquid that Stockman picked up in his bug-like hands.

Twisting his ugly maw into a grin, the giant fly flew himself back over to the weakened man and force fed the liquid down his throat. The reaction resulting from the consumption was instant.

Screaming out like his throat was burning in pain, the helpless man struggled and writhed along the floor, his body suffering major convulsions as the chemicals bathed throughout his blood, alternating the makeup of his nerves.

For three, long minutes this process made him suffer, until the man finally stopped in silence, a soulless look crossing his eyes.

"Did it work?" asked Tiger Claw, observing the man.

"We'll see," said Shredder, stepping up to the victim.

"Stand!" he commanded.

For a moment it seemed like the man wouldn't obey Shredder's order, then poorly, he pushed up with arms and rose into a standing position, lifting himself upon wobbling feet. Under his mask Shredder grinned, and Baxter Stockman looked pleased.

"Yes, it works!" cheered the fly.

"Excellent" said Shredder " now the rest of my plans can proceed. Tiger Claw, dispose of the subject and check in with Hun about the shipment at the plant. My revenge starts today."

With that said, Shredder walked out of the room, his cloak billowing behind him, while Tiger Claw approached the helpless man and grinned with his fangs.

Claws spreading out of his palm, the mutant gripped tight onto the helpless man's shirt, and dragged him outside to accomplish the task that was set.

A moment later, after the lab doors closed, a horrifying scream broke out into the night.


	2. Chapter 2: Mutant Underground

**Ch.2: Mutant Underground**

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, two best friends were out hopping across the rooftops, tired after an evening of fighting crime. Exhausted breaths panted from their mouths as they continued to run.

"Man" said Casey, turning to look at the green turtle beside him " how many muggings have we've broken up tonight?"

"Don't know" said Raph, peering at his friend " but it feels like a dozen. Isn't the military supposed to be handling some of this?"

"Those government slobs?" said Casey with disgust " They're still busy trying to cover up the whole fact that there was an alien invasion in the first place. They couldn't care less about what's happening right now."

"Guess you're right" said Raph, pausing on a rooftop "which leaves the job to us."

"So how's the cleanup going?" said Casey, lifting up his mask as he stopped beside his friend.

The red-masked turtle took a breath in before he responded.

"Fine I guess" said Raph " There's still a lot of damage in the lair though. Donnie is still practically in shock at the state of his lab."

"Can't blame the dude" said Casey, shrugging his shoulders " he loves to geek out. Any answers to that mind control potion?"

"No" said Raph, shaking his head " but if Donnie's right about it, Shredder's up to something big. Only hope we figure it out in time."

Suddenly, a nearby smashing sound attracted the pair's attention, causing them to both peek over the roof. About one block away, at a boarded up grocery store, something big was obviously rummaging inside.

"Want to check it out?" Raph asked Casey.

The boy just grinned, putting his hockey mask down.

"Let's do this!"

* * *

A moment later, both Raphael and Casey slipped silently into the store, hiding among the aisles, cautious to the thieves within. The sound of rummaging could be heard again as more boxes were moved, and then a voice spoke out sounding pleased.

"There, that should last a while."

Raph gasped in recognition, instantly recognizing the voice.

"Slash?" he asked, stepping out of the shadows.

"Raphael?" asked Slash, as the duo came out " Well surprise, what brings you here?"

"We heard some kind of noise" said Casey " came to check it out. Didn't expect to find you here though."

"Just had a few errands to run" said Slash " picking up some food for the Underground."

"The Underground?" asked Raph " What's that?"

"A safe haven for mutants during the Kraang Invasion" said Slash " Jack helped out in making it. Even though the invasion is over now, it's still a place we can call home."

"Need any help with the supplies?" asked Casey.

"Suit yourself" said Slash, lifting up a box " I'll take you to the base."

With that said, both Raphael and Casey lifted up some boxes as well, and followed Slash down to where the Underground was, where dozens of mutants lay waiting for a feast.

* * *

Minutes later, after Slash had led them through an array of streets and subway tunnels, the large turtle finally stopped and put his box down, claiming they had arrived.

"A brick wall?" asked Casey, confused by the object in their path.

"It only looks that way" said Slash, glancing briefly at the human before calling out " Malachi, open up!"

Seconds later, the illusion of the brick wall had vanished, making Raph and Casey gasp in sight of a hidden room, a room filled with mutants. Among the mutates were the rest of Slash's Mighty Mutanimals team, and even some Raph would have never guessed to being there.

"Spiderbytes? Snakeweed?" the red-masked turtle wondered "They're here too?"

"All kind of crazy things happen during an invasion," said Slash, picking up his box again, motioning Raphael and Casey over to a corner where they could stash their cargo.

"I see you found company while you were out?" said Rockwell, after Slash and his guests put down their load.

"Yeah" said Slash " They offered to help so why not?"

"It's well appreciated" said Leatherhead, stepping up " thank you."

"No problem," said Raph " So this is where you all stay?"

"Most of us" said Leatherhead " it's a long story how this came about, but the mutants who choose like it here, because they are safe."

"Course not all the tenants have been so charming," said Rockwell, looking at Slash.

The large turtle instantly looked away, knowing just 'who' the doctor meant. Quickly, the black-masked reptile sought for something else to change the subject. Turning around to Raph he asked…

"So, how are things at home?"

"Quiet" said Raph " Donnie's has been cooped up in his lab for days trying to figure out Shredder's new plot."

"Dude's making some kind of potion" said Casey " we need to find a way to stop it,"

"Curious" said Rockwell, giving his leader a brief look " maybe we should investigate this pheneo…,"

Before the psychic chimp could finish, Casey's T-Phone rang, and the hockey player quickly answered, hearing his dad's voice on the other end of the line. After a short, embarrassing moment of father son talk, Casey hung up his T-Phone, and told Raph they should go.

Reluctantly agreeing, Raphael bid farewell to Slash and his team, and then followed Casey home. Meanwhile, over by the boxes, Pigeon Pete had managed to get one the lids open and grinned hungrily at a pile of sourdough bread.

Once Raph and Casey were out of sight, Slash looked over at his team, wondering how to handle the information that had just been shared.

Now that the Kraang were gone, the Mighty Mutanimals needed a new purpose to fight. What better way than to take down Slash's old family's enemy; the Shredder.


	3. Chapter 3: Hunter And Prey

**Ch.3: Hunter and Prey**

Meanwhile, down at the Auman Chemical Plant, things seemed to be running smoothly. Working his gang members like a well-oiled machine, Hun oversaw their progress as they loaded vial after vial into waiting trucks.

Another truck had just been loaded when a black van suddenly rolled up to the scene, two Foot-Bots sitting behind the wheel. Bursting out of the van's back door, Tiger Claw emerged, stunning Hun as he walked up, fresh blood still visible on his claws.

"Greetings Tiger Claw" bowed Hun towards the mutant " there have been no troubles with the operation so far. Soon, the Master will have enough serum to control anyone he needs."

"Good" said Tiger Claw with a grunt " Now what about the shipment?"

"The twins have set up a meeting at the docks" said Hun " I hope you have brought their payment."

"Hmph" growled Tiger Claw " it had better be worth the price. I'll go to see them now."

With that said, Tiger Claw hopped back into the van and left for the meeting at the docks.

* * *

"Okay" thought Pigeon Pete as he flew through the skies " now where can the Shredder be?"

After Raph and Casey had left the Underground hideout, it didn't take long for Slash to convince the other Mutanimals that putting a stop to Shredder's mind control plot was a good idea. The citizens of New York were still recovering from an alien invasion for Christ's sake, they didn't need another crisis now.

So, without any words of argument, the Mighty Mutanimals set out to stop the Shredder. Pete flew out through the velvet skies, keeping a sharp, birds-eye view out for anything suspicious below.

Nothing weird had been spotted so far, but then the sounds of screeching tires suddenly vibrated through Pete's ears.

Down on the road, a black car was driving wildly, seeming almost out of control. It bulleted straight towards the docks, like it was in a hurry to get there.

Knowing that this was definitely suspicious, Pigeon Pete immediately turned around to go and report back to Slash. There was going be fun tonight.

* * *

Meanwhile, down at the docks, waiting impatiently in the shadows of some crates, Tiger Claw steadily thumped his claws up and down until the screeching of tires suddenly caught his ear.

The screeching came to a stop as a black car parked along the pier, and its twin doors opened, allowing the Vulci brothers to step out.

Armed with guns, the twin siblings started looking around nervously for their expected contact. Tiger Claw took this as his cue to step out of the shadows, and approached the twitchy young men.

"The Vulci Twins" said Tiger Claw " punctual as usual."

"Tiger Claw!" shouted the older twin, raising up his gun.

"Do you have it?" Tiger Claw asked.

"You're not getting the merchandise without handing over our loot," spoke the older twin again.

Nodding that he understood, Tiger Claw over a briefcase with money inside over towards the twins. The twins returned the favor by passing over their case over to Tiger Claw, which the cat gracefully caught in his hand.

"This had better be worth the price" said Tiger Claw " you don't want to disappoint him."

As that was said, Slash suddenly jumped down, surprising the gathering of thugs. His mace was clutched firmly in his hands, ready for a fight.

"Ah" said Tiger Claw looking towards the mutant " the infamous Slash. Not very stealthy, for a ninja."

"What I lack in stealth" said Slash, grinning as his team came out " I make for with friends. Meet the Mighty Mutanimals."

The Vulci Twins immediately freaked out at the sight of more freaks and started shooting at Slash and his team. Slash immediately turned his shell in order to block the shots, while Pete and Rockwell flanked to the side.

Leatherhead charged straight for the twins, snapping his jaws, anger burning clear in his eyes.

Knowing that their second-in-command had those two punks handled, the rest of the Mutanimals focused their assault upon Tiger Claw. The tiger mutant easily flung Rockwell and Pigeon Pete aside, leaving him open for Slash.

Swinging his mace to land a deadly hit, Slash thrusted his weapon at Tiger Claw while the assassin skillfully dodged. Inside Tiger Claw's mind, the cat was laughing.

Back when he was swallowed by the worm, Tiger Claw had to battle his way through many separate dimensions just to return to his present home. These Mighty Mutanimals meant no threat to him.

Blinding Slash with a smoke bomb, Tiger Claw leaped out their fight and got tackled again by Rockwell, which he instantly froze with his gun. It was just about that moment Slash recovered from the bomb, and ran towards Tiger Claw. The cat instantly put him out of commission with electric bolas, and Slash passed unconscious towards the ground.

Pigeon Pete saw this and dived into help, pecking at Tiger Claw furiously with his beak. This proved to be a big mistake, as Tiger Claw gripped on to the back of the pigeon's neck, making him pass out and hang like a useless ragdoll in Tiger Claw's hands.

Just at that moment, Leatherhead noticed that he was the last member of the Mutanimals still standing. He had been so busy chasing the fleeing Vulci brothers that he lost sight to the other members of his team.

Focusing his rage now on Tiger Claw, Leatherhead charged at the mutant, jaws open wide. Tiger Claw skillfully dodged using his natural agility, letting go of Pigeon Pete as he slided over closer to the unconscious Rockwell.

Pigeon Pete was now safely upon Leatherhead's back, but Rockwell was now in danger. Tiger Claw immediately grabbed the monkey up in his hand, holding him up like a furry, bargaining chip. His eyes glared towards Leatherhead.

"Take one more step and we'll find if all monkeys go to heaven."

Leatherhead growled at the tiger's threat, wondering what to do when the roar of an engine suddenly caught his ears. Before the crocodile could even turn around to see its source, the Foot-Bots sped their van out of its hiding place, striking Leatherhead dead on.

Pushed back by the slamming force both Leatherhead and Pigeon Pete were knocked over the pier to the chilling waters below. Tiger Claw grinned at their misfortune and immediately ordered the Foot-Bots to bring out the tow chain.

Attaching the chain to Slash's shell, Tiger Claw stepped into the van along with his other prize. These freaks would be of great use to Shredder, especially Slash.


	4. Chapter 4: In Evil's Grasp

**Ch.4: In Evil's Grasp**

Meanwhile, down in the sewers, back inside the turtles lair, howls of frustration could be heard as a certain genius shouted into the air.

"No! No! No!" cried Donatello in his lab, banging his hands against the desk "No matter what chemical compound I try, it doesn't work! I can't find a way to nullify Shredder's mind control formula."

A soft knock suddenly sounded upon the open lab doors, attracting the purple-masked turtle to turn around and see Leo standing in the entryway. The blue-masked turtle stood silent for a moment before speaking what was on his mind.

"Something wrong Donnie?" asked Leo " Mikey could hear you screaming all the way through Crognard."

"Sorry Leo" said Don, tilting his head down " it's just that I can't find an anti-agent for Shredder's mind control serum. If I don't come up with some type of a cure, there's no telling what could happen."

Leo cringed at the thought, imagining the scenario in his mind, but quickly dismissed it to assure his brother.

" You'll figure it out Don" said Leo, grinning " after all, you developed the retro-mutagen right?"

"Right" said Don, agreeing " but this is a little more complex. I'm almost tempted to ask help from...,"

"Raphael!" Michelangelo suddenly shouted, interrupting the genius's speech.

The excited cry had come from the living room, informing everyone that heard of the red-masked turtle's return. Thinking it was only right to go out and greet their brother, Leo and Donnie both walked out of the lab, joining the others in the living room.

"So, how was patrol tonight?" Leo asked, looking at Raph.

"Fine" Raphael responded " just finished dropping Casey off at his place. Broke up a couple of muggings, ran into Slash...,"

"Wait, wait, wait" Leo interrupted " You ran into Slash? Did you fight?"

For a moment, Leo's mind flooded over with worry, concerned that the black-masked reptile had returned to his evil ways.

"Wha...No!" said Raph, instantly down-playing Leo's logic " Are you crazy? We just helped him by a carrying a few supplies. He was taking them to feed some mutants in the Underground."

"The Underground?" Mikey asked curiously.

"It's a place where all the mutants hid during the Kraang Invasion" said Raph " You wouldn't believe how many there are."

"Wow" said Mikey, suddenly excited " I want to see! Can we go? Can we go? Please!"

"Maybe later" said Leo, glancing at his younger brother " It's getting pretty late. Time to head for bed."

"Ah!" Mikey moaned, heading off to his room.

Soon Leo and Raph followed their brother's course. Donatello lagged behind for a bit, pausing to close up the doors leading to his lab.

"Maybe Rockwell can help me," Don thought, and with that, the purple-masked genius retired to his room.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that moment, caged up inside the Shredder's stronghold, Dr. Rockwell finally awoke from his unconscious slumber, very dreary, and shook his head in order to remain alert. The battle with Tiger Claw flashed back vividly through his mind.

There was no doubt a cruel reason to why he was still breathing, and why had been locked up like a prisoner of war.

"They plan to use the potion on me" thought Rockwell " and my other teammates could be here as well."

Quickly, Rockwell focused with his mind, reaching out with the help of his physic amplifier to get a better image to where he was. Dozens of Foot-Bots and powerful mutants lay spread out throughout the area, but he couldn't feel the familiar senses of his team.

Maybe they did manage to escape up at the docks. Maybe he was the only one who hadn't managed to get away.

If this theory was true, then the other Mutanimals were sure to come after him. He would just have to be patient and wait for their rescue. Then suddenly, a scream shouted out through the monkey's mind, making him fall backwards on his feet.

Rockwell could feel the pain vibrate all throughout his physic link. Instantly, he knew from whom the cry had come.

"Slash."

* * *

Was it a memory or a dream? Slash couldn't quite recall, but the feeling that he had lived through this experience pounded clear into his head.

The silence, the cold, how everything seemed bigger than he was. This was the vision of a very small turtle, being dropped down into the sewers by a cruel owner's hand. Tears welled up in his eyes as the turtle started to cry, calling out for anyone to care whether he lived.

Finally, Slash could make out the hand, lifting the turtle up and carrying him in its arms.

"Raphael," said Slash, waking out of the memory, and opened his eyes to the nightmare of Stockman's lab.

The peaceful thoughts he had dreamed when he had first became Raphael's pet vanished, and rage boiled out through Slash's blood. His arms and legs were bound tight by heavy shackles, while his mace lay far out of reach.

"Ah, he's awake," said Rahzar, looking at Master Shredder's new pet.

This prodded the armored-plated villain standing beside him to step closer to Slash, an injection device in his hands. Instinctively the turtle growled, glaring at Shredder.

"So" Slash thought " this is the creep Raphael and his brothers fight against. Well he won't be for long."

"I admire your spirit" said Shredder, mocking Slash's glare " but you're powerless now. And your will…will no longer be your own."

"Ha!" said Slash " Even if I fall, my friends will come stop you,"

"Friends like Raphael?" asked Shredder, indicating that he had heard Slash say the turtle's name when he woke up in his lair.

Slash's glare hardened at Shredder as the villain stepped closer with the serum, cursing his mind for the slip of the tongue.

"He and his brothers cannot stop me" said Shredder " and neither will your friends. Now Slash…,"

And with that, he stuck the injection unit into the turtle's arm, making him let out a painful scream.

"Obey me."


	5. Chapter 5: A Rotten Rescue

**Ch.5: A Rotten Rescue**

Minutes after Slash and Rockwell had been taken, cold water spurted up from the bay at the edge of pier, allowing Leatherhead's reptilian face to surface. Puffs of air escaped from the reptile's lips as he paddled towards shore.

Clutched tight in his hands was the unconscious form of Pigeon Pete, who had almost drowned in the bay. The bird's breathing was harsh and labored, Leatherhead knew that he had to get his teammate somewhere safe.

Finally, Leatherhead managed to pull both of them onto the docks, and laid his friend down to rest. The poor bird choked and coughed, shivering, his feathers soaked to the bone. It would be a long rest before he fully recovered.

Moving them over to a shelter of hidden crates, Leatherhead sat down right next to Pete, waiting for his friend to revive. But the crocodile's mind wasn't only on him.

Half of their team had been stolen, and now would be used like soulless puppets for whatever Shredder had in mind. There was no doubt that Leatherhead and Pete had to go and rescue them.

However, given their current state, attacking Shredder's fortress was futile. They would need help if they were to get their friends back.

Fortunately for Leatherhead, he knew just the four to call on.

* * *

Meanwhile, back inside Shredder's fortress, Doctor Rockwell meditated his mind, focusing hard on the door in front of him.

Ever since he had heard Slash's physic scream, Rockwell was even more desperate to break out of this cage. With groaning screeches, the iron bars blocking his cell twisted and bent, spreading out to form a circular gap which he could slip through with ease.

Finally seeing the escape hole as big enough, Rockwell slipped out towards freedom, and then ran down the halls, looking for Slash.

Thanks to the physic scream he had heard before, the doctor had a pretty good idea of where Slash could be located in this pit. Blasting apart any Foot-Bots who heard him, and came to stand in his way, Rockwell pressed forward, finally pressing through the doors that emerged into Stockman's lab.

A greeting committee awaited Rockwell as the chimp entered. Shredder, and his entire army of mutant henchmen stood ringed around the room, their eyes delivering various sets of glares.

Lying down in the center of the lab area was a knocked out Slash, frozen in a pose that seemed to Rockwell like a position of complete agony.

Despite the concerns of the other villains in his presence, Rockwell's determination to help Slash burned any self-doubt, and immediately he ran over to the turtle's side.

"Slash" said Rockwell, shaking the turtle's shell concerned " Wake up! What have they done to you?"

For a few deadly seconds, Rockwell's question went unanswered, and then Slash awoke, bringing out his claws. Before Rockwell could even react, those claws sliced right across his skin, leaving a trail of cuts deep in his chest.

Slash continued his assault against the stunned, mutant ape, while the audience around watched in evil pleasure. Their mouths twisted into cruel smiles, indicating that they enjoyed the show.

Desperate to defend himself against Slash's harsh blows, Rockwell blasted back at Slash with several mind pulses, slowing the giant turtle down a little as he grabbed and started around his mace.

But Slash wasn't the leader of the Mutanimals for nothing, as he fought through every trick that Rockwell played. The monkey was quickly losing ground, and tried to reason with his leader, but even his friendly words weren't strong enough to break through the poison tainting Slash's mind.

Finally, the Shredder had seen enough of this 'entertainment', convinced that the serum worked to perfection on mutants as it had on man. Snapping his fingers, Shredder signaled to Stockman and Tiger Claw, and the two mutants moved in on the fight.

Tiger Claw immediately grabbed onto the fur of Rockwell's neck to the hold the monkey still, and raised a claw up Slash, indicating that the fight had ended.

Reluctantly, Slash relaxed his battle pose, a little disappointed that he didn't have a chance to finish the fight. When he spoke that opinion Tiger Claw laughed.

"Don't worry my friend" said Tiger Claw, as Stockman injected Rockwell with the mind control serum too " you will get your chance, thanks to the addition of our new ally."

"Uh" said Rockwell, confused for a moment after Tiger Claw dropped him, and then bowed in reverence when Shredder walked up to the scene "What is your command Master?"

"Kill Splinter" said Shredder, ready for the next phase of his plan " and bring a turtle to me."


	6. Chapter 6: Danger Sleeps

**Ch.6: Danger Sleeps**

Down in the depths of the sewers, wrapped up in the comforts of his tiger-print bedsheets, the restless, red-banded turtle known as Raphael twisted and turned around in his sleep, fighting through the horror known as his dream.

Although, if anyone was brave enough to really ask, to him they were more like nightmares, reflecting every conflict that warred on within his soul.

It didn't help that these nightmares had slowly gotten worse after the turtles discovered Shredder's new plot concerned mind control. The turtles were no strangers to losing control of their minds, but what Shredder planned to do with such power was a big reason to fear.

Fiercely, images flashed across Raphael's mind to the most fearsome fights he had ever had. The Kraang, Fishface, Shredder, and even his former pet Slash. All these fights were responsible for making him the turtle he was now, but although they achieved much good, they also left much doubt.

It had been the fights with Slash and Fishface that had really caused Raphael to question on which side he was meant to be, good or…

Snapping awake before his mind could dare dream into those thoughts, Raphael shook his head, pulled off the covers, and walked off towards the living room. All these doubts were playing a major headache with his mind. He needed to hit something to cool down.

However, before Raphael could reach his favorite training dummy, a loud noise echoed out from the sewers, making him stop in his tracks.

Frightened by the sound, Raphael drew out his sais, and readied himself for a coming battle. A form lumbered out of the shadows, making Raph sink deeper into his pose.

However, once that figure slowly emerged into the light, the tense air surrounding Raphael went slack, and he called out for his brothers.

"Guys, get in here!"

Hearing Raph's urgent shout, Leo, Don, and Mikey quickly hopped out a bed and ran to answer their brother's plea. Even Master Splinter came out his room to join them. Mouths were agape with shock when they saw a weary Leatherhead holding onto Pigeon Pete, who was now conscious but still weary.

"Leatherhead! Pete!" said Leo, when he saw the two Mutanimals " What happened?"

"Slash and Rockwell have been captured" said Leatherhead "They were taken by Tiger Claw."

"What? Why?" asked Mikey.

"He said they would be of great use to 'him'," said the croc.

"Shredder," growled Raphael, sheathing his sais.

"We got to go rescue them," said Leo.

"Agreed" said Master Splinter " but it seems like Pigeon Pete needs aid first. Donatello,"

"Already on it Sensei," said the turtle, and immediately left for his lab.

Minutes later, Pete was laid down upon the stone couch while Donnie checked him over in a medical exam. He was bruised and still a bit shaken about almost drowning in the bay, but he would be alright given enough time to rest.

"I shall care for him" said Splinter to the others " Go and rescue your friends, now."

With that said the turtles dashed off, following behind Leatherhead to save Slash and Rockwell from the Shredder's lair.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside Shredder's fortress, the villain sat impatiently tapping his fingers against his throne as the midnight hour drew near. He was waiting to hear news from his sentries that now was the moment to strike.

Seconds later, the Shredder got his wish as Fishface entered the room.

"The turtles are here my Lord" bowed the fish " spotted just across the way."

"Excellent" said Shredder, his mask concealing an evil grin " then proceed."

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, just about ten feet away from Shredder's stronghold, the turtles and Leatherhead stood poised on a roof, tense and ready to break in to the building below. Raphael was just about to jump down and speed on inside, until Leo stopped his progress.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked.

"Going in all blades blazing like we should have done weeks ago," said Raph.

"We don't even know where they are" said Leo " We can't go rushing in without a pla...,"

Leo's speech was suddenly interrupted when a familiar roar and hard smash of metal suddenly rang out through the night. Focusing his attention back on Shredder's fortress, the blue-banded turtle gasped in shock as he saw Slash and Rockwell suddenly run out, with an army of Foot-Bots chasing behind them.

"They escaped on their own?" said Donnie, equally stunned.

"Don't act so surprised" said Raph, already leaving the roof " Let's move!"

* * *

Slash and Rockwell soon stood cornered in an dead in alley, both exhausted and breathing hard. The army of Foot-Bots steadily closed in, weapons out and ready to slice.

However, before the robots could even think about landing a blow to their friends, the turtles and Leatherhead suddenly dropped down, tearing the machines to shreds. Slash and Rockwell both dropped to their knees with sighs of relief as their friends ran up to check on them.

"Slash are you okay?" asked Raphael with concern.

"Raphael...," said Slash, weakly pronouncing his former owner's name.

"What did Shredder do you?" spoke Leatherhead, angry about his friends' poor state.

"They don't look so good" said Don, overlooking Slash and Rockwell " we have to get them back to the lair stat."

* * *

Minutes later, Slash and Rockwell were soon in the lair, grateful for some rest after all they had been through tonight.

Pigeon Pete was now up and doing much better thanks to Splinter's care. The bird now sat on the couch, eating leftover pizza crusts with Leatherhead as Splinter brewed some more strong, herbal tea for Slash and Rockwell to consume.

"Your escape was most fortuitous" said Splinter " Shredder is not one easily eluded."

"Well we're just glad you're both okay," said Raphael.

"Are you sure?" asked Mikey " They seem a little bit off to me."

"They did do something to us" said Rockwell " Yes, it's all coming back to me now. We were being experimented on by Shredder."

"Experimented on?" said Don concerned.

"He was trying to...to...," stumbled Slash.

"Dude don't leave us hanging!" said Mikey.

"Ugh!" said Slash, slamming his fists down on the table with frustration.

"Calm down my friend" said Splinter, resting a hand on the large turtle's shoulder " there is no need to force yourself to remember. Stay here and rest for the night. We shall recall this discussion in the morning."

With that said, spots were soon made out in the living room for four extra guests, and then Splinter and his sons each retired to their rooms one by one.

The lights went out, and soon everyone drifted off peacefully into slumber, but two sets of eyes remained open, ready to carry out their Master's plan.


	7. Chapter 7: Nightmare In Black

**Ch.7: Nightmare In Black**

It all started with Leonardo, although the blue-masked reptile was clueless at the time. Still stuck in deep pitch slumber, Leo barely twitched an eye as his body slowly rose up out of bed, and walked out of the room, grabbing his katanas as he slipped through the door.

Unconsciously, Leo entered the living room, and then strode over to the chamber where his Sensei slept. The giant rat was slumbering peacefully upon a straw mat, caught in the wake of his dreams. However, those dreams were soon to become a nightmare as Leo raised up his swords.

Unaware of what he was doing, Leo swung down his weapons, aiming right for Splinter's head, when a sudden screeching sound shot and snagged its way around Leo's arms, stopping the turtle in his tracks.

Leo's eyes instantly snapped awake at the force of the action, and lowered his arms down.

"Leo, what are you doing?" called out Mikey's voice, turning the blue-masked turtle's attention towards him. His hands were held tightly around the ends of kusurigama chain.

"Wha…Mikey?" asked Leo confused, wondering what he was doing in Splinter's room as his swords clattered to the floor. "What's going on? How did I get here?"

Master Splinter came awake at that time, sharing in Leonardo's confusion, as Mikey talked and explained.

"I saw you walking like a zombie bro" said Mikey " Lucky I was in the kitchen grabbing a late night slice. You nearly sliced Sensei's head off!"

"What?!" asked Leo stunned " But I would never do that! Ever! I'm sorry Sensei, I…"

"It is alright my son" said Master Splinter, placing a hand onto his eldest son's shoulders " Something strange is going on here. I fear that an enemy may dwell among us."

However, before Master Splinter could offer a guess on just who that enemy might be, one of the katanas that Leo dropped earlier suddenly rose up and sliced Splinter brutally in the side.

A painful scream cut through the entire lair, as a pool of blood rained on the floor.

"Sensei!" yelled Mikey and Leo at once.

The sounds from the brothers shouts instantly alerted everyone else in the lair, signaling that there was trouble in Splinter's room. In a manner of seconds, Leatherhead, Donatello, and Pete rushed inside, shocked at seeing Splinter's tragic state.

Leatherhead immediately used his gator vision to scan the shadows of the room, looking out for whatever cowardly villain could commit such a crime. Finally, he spotted the enemy and gasped.

"This can't be," he spoke.

But it was. Splinter's attempted murder was none other than…Rockwell.

* * *

"Sensei!"

The yell immediately snapped Raphael awake, filling his body with fear.

"Splinter!" shouted Raph, before grabbing his sais, and then rushed fast to open up the bedroom door.

However, as soon as Raphael opened it up, it didn't take long for him to notice Slash blocking his way. Before Raph could even ask for the black-masked reptile to move, Slash responded quickly with his mace, knocking Raphael backwards and into a wall.

Pain radiated all throughout Raph's shell as he focused his stunned gaze upon Slash. What the heck was he doing? This wasn't like Slash at all!

"Sleep tight Raph," said Slash, throwing a knockout bomb Raph's way.

Instantly, the bomb exploded, covering Raph in a toxic cloud of knockout powder, causing the red-masked turtle to drop unconscious to the floor.

Once sure his target was asleep, Slash stepped up and scooped Raphael gently into his arms. A nasty grin lit up on the large turtle's face.

"Master Shredder will soon have his prize."

* * *

Leatherhead didn't know what to think as he watched Rockwell effortlessly fling Leonardo and Mikey aside as they charged to defend their father. Deep seated rage flowed throughout his core. How could one of his best friends even think about attacking their allies like this?

As Donatello and Pete ran over to check on the welfare of Splinter, Leatherhead roared and charged towards Rockwell, snapping at the monkey with his jaws.

Rockwell easily levitated out of Leatherhead's reach, and then shot the croc with mind pulse before floating his way out the door. Leatherhead growled as he fell to his knees, but quickly recovered, chasing Rockwell out the door.

By this time, Leo and Mikey had recovered too, joining Leatherhead in his chase. The three mutants stood dead in shock when they reached the living room, hardly believing the sight that stood before the lair door.

Rockwell and Slash now stood right next to each other, sporting sinister grins, as the large turtle tightened his grip on the unconscious Raphael in his hands.

"No Raph!" Leo yelled, instantly worried about the state of his brother.

"So long turtles," said Slash, as he and Rockwell left, locking the lair door.

Leatherhead immediately started ramming the plated steel, desperate to get the door down. Through his efforts, he could hear the sounds of an engine revving. He was running out of time!

Finally, on the four try, the door burst, allowing Leatherhead, Leo, and Mikey to step free, but by then it was to late. The Party Wagon roared and sped out through the subway tunnel, leaving the poor trio of pursuers in its dust.

"Raph" thought Leo, feeling tears instantly come to his eyes " I failed. I failed."


	8. Chapter 8: Shredder's Heir

**Ch.8: Shredder's Heir**

Sorrow gripped the lair as Leo and the others stood in Donnie's lab, watching the purple-masked turtle clean up and bandage Splinter's wound. A big sigh of relief escaped from Donatello's lips as he discovered that the wound wasn't deep enough to be fatal, but the cut still traveled far enough into Splinter's body, leaving the rat in an enormous amount of pain.

"There" said Don, tying the last bandage on " Do you feel any better Sensei?"

"Yes" Splinter said weakly " Thank you my son."

Don smiled a bit at the praise, but the mood quickly returned to its sour state when Leo stepped up and informed Splinter about Raphael's kidnapping.

"There's no doubt Shredder will do the same to him like he did to Rockwell and Slash."

"Then we got to save him," said Mikey, determined.

"And our friends as well," said Leatherhead.

"I've been working on an antidote to counteract the mind control serum, but no luck" said Don " I don't have the resources to cure the others, even if we do get them back."

"Then you must find them" said Splinter " Clean their minds from Shredder's poison, and bring them back to us."

* * *

Just a few minutes later, after leaving Master Splinter in Donnie's lab to rest for the day, Leo traveled over to the dojo, his katana blades clutched tightly in hand.

As soon as he arrived, Leo solemnly cleaned off Splinter's blood that still stained one of his blades. These weapons that he treasured so, and were given gratefully to him by Splinter, had been used as the tools that nearly ended his Sensei's life.

Leo knew that with much clarity, that his his brother, Raphael, would soon be nothing more than a tool as well. A weapon of destruction, completely at Shredder's command.

Anger poured out through Leo's veins, as his blood burned with fury. Shredder's face flashed briefly across his mind, and the blue-masked turtle let out a scream of rage, slicing a wooden training dummy in half with his swords.

"One day Shredder" Leo growled " I swear to kill you myself."

* * *

Meanwhile, in town, the Party Wagon pulled up outside the Shredder's lair, allowing its two, cruel passengers to step out with their prize.

Still knocked out by the sleep bomb, Raphael gave out no form of movement as Slash lifted him up in his hands, and carried the unconscious cargo inside.

"Soon Raph" thought Slash in his mind " we shall be brothers again."

"No!" yelled out another voice in the large turtle's brain " This is wrong! Let him go now!"

Outside, in reality, Slash huffed. It was him again. That stupid light half of his personality that had been throughly barred by Shredder; the good Slash. A Slash that had started out well to his darker half's liking, but then grew concerned and just with his actions, locking his darker half away. The half that still wanted to grant Raphael's wish, no matter what the cost.

Once Raphael's mind was under Shredder's control, the elimination of the other turtles was as good as achieved. And then, after that, all of New York would be theirs.

* * *

A soft groan echoed out through the air as Raph finally stirred, life coming back to his green eyes. His mind was jumbled and confused as he tried to piece together the strange objects around him.

Finally, the crushing blow of recent events caught up to him in a flash. The muscles in his arms tensed as his mind snapped aware. He knew where he was now.

The cages, the mutation tank, even the surprising hiss of a mutant Karai, he was inside of Baxter Stockman's lab.

Determined to escape, Raphael told his body to run, but soon found that he couldn't go anywhere since his arms and legs were trapped. Strapped tightly to a lab table, his limbs were rendered immobile, useless to move.

If that wasn't bad enough, his sais had been placed completely out of reach, and then the lab doors swished open, allowing a parade of villains to enter the room.

Raphael could barely contain his shock as he watched Slash and Rockwell walk in with Shredder and that disgusting Baxter Fly. How could two of best friends go over to the dark side?

Of course, there was only one answer that clearly made sense.

"The mind control potion" thought Raph, setting his eyes into a glare " He used it on them! Now...he's going to do the same thing to me."

"Looks like our subject is awake Master," buzzed Baxter Fly.

"Get me out of here and I'll be sure to swat ya fly-boy!" growled Raph.

"Now why would we do that" said Shredder " when you can be part of our family."

"You're not my family!" yelled Raph, giving a brief glance towards Karai's cage " And you're a terrible father! Go ahead and try your juice. I'd die before I would ever give you control."

"Bold words" said Shredder " but it will do you no good. You shall fall to my will whether you like it or not. Stockman, retrieve the container of the 'special' mind control serum."

"Special mind control serum?" Raph asked, not liking the words.

"Oh it truly is ingenious" said Stockman, grabbing a jar " not only will you lose your mind, but your precious memories as well. It will be as if Splinter and your brothers never existed."

"Never existed?" Raphael thought fearfully in his mind " I would lose my memories about all of them?!"

The absolute terror that this meant seemed all to unreal. Complete blindness about the past, with Shredder controlling his future.

"Hold him," said Shredder to Slash, and the large turtle moved instantly to obey.

Once again, the voice of the good Slash spoke out, begging with his darker half not to hold Raphael down. But the dark half wouldn't listen, and urged the body forward.

His hands held tight onto Raphael's head and shoulders, forcing the turtle to be still and watch as Baxter Stockman flew closer with his injection gun.

The sharp tip was instantly planted into the base of Raph's neck, making the turtle cry out in pain. Screaming, he struggled and thrashed in Slash's grip, trying to fight off the posion that infected his bloodstream.

Memories flashed by quickly in Raphael's mind, dissolving into dust after only a few seconds of being played. The first big mission with his brothers, gone. Being cared for and raised by Splinter, erased.

The threads of the mind control serum soon took control, implanting new thoughts into his mind.

Splinter and the other turtles were his sworn enemies. His only loyalty was to those of the Foot. And he was Shredder's ultimate weapon. His one and future heir.


	9. Chapter 9: Pains of Revenge

**Ch.9: Pains of Revenge**

Writhing restlessly inside of her cage, Karai hissed fiercely at the screen blocking her escape. Pure anger flooded through her mind at just how insane and cruel the Shredder's methods had become.

This man, who she had once seen as her father, stood back and smiled as Stockman injected the mind control toxin into Raphael's veins, enjoying the growing torment on the turtle's face as he succumbed to the venom's control.

Her mutated brother was now a slave to Shredder's will. A prisoner, a pawn, just like Karai would soon become.

Depressed, Karai transformed back into her human state, and laid her head down between her knees. Thanks to weeks of experiments from Stockman, she had regained her mind, and now could transform from human to snake at will. But that little fact did little to comfort that she was still being caged.

Now that the mind control serum was complete, and Shredder knew it worked successfully on mutants, Karai knew it was only a matter of time before she would be controlled as well. But what confused Karai most of all, is why Shredder wanted to control one of the turtles.

Raphael had been a fine catch, and his aggressive attitude would be a most fortunate asset to the Shredder's team. No doubt Raphael would soon be after his brothers, seeking to exterminate them for Shredder's cause.

But what about after that mission was complete? Would Shredder kill Raphael when he was no longer of use? Or would the turtle remain bound in his service forever?

* * *

Meanwhile, inside of Shredder's meditation chamber, a red-masked figure slowly started coming awake after the torment he had suffered in Stockman's lab.

"Where…where am I?" Raph breathed out, confused.

The whole area around him was strange. Colored by walls of yellow brick, and lit by an aura of shadows and fire, the room Raphael found himself in definitely had a dark, spiritual feel. Three statues stood around the room as well, each ten feet tall with the forms of demonic Oni. Each of the Oni statues stood perched on top of a human skull, their evil eyes gazing down, judging those who crawled beneath.

Before Raphael could decide he should either stay or run from the room, the middle section of the floor suddenly flamed up and platform rose with Shredder sitting upon it. The villain's back was turned towards Raphael, as he scooped up his mask, and placed it on his head, deciding to answer the turtle's previous question.

"Your new home mutant,"

"Shredder!" thought Raph, his mind instantly prickling with rage.

In a flash, the turtle brought his sai and ran to deal a death blow to Shredder's head, but stopped in tracks when Shredder shouted out for him and to kneel. Raph did as he was told as Shredder stood, locking the turtle with his gaze.

"Have you forgotten who you are?" Shredder asked.

"Sorry Master" said Raphael, the programming of Stockman's mind control serum now in full effect " I didn't mean to try…,"

"Stand" interrupted Shredder " and attack. Show no mercy. Aim to kill."

With that said, Raphael stood, and started to slice at Shredder mercilessly with his sais. With no sense of mercy holding his bound, Raph immediately aimed for the fatal spots he knew would cause his opponents great pain.

Shredder countered each and every one of Raph's moves, correcting the turtle when he saw a mistake he didn't like, and grinning at just how ruthless Raphael could be.

During the middle of his pride for the turtle's skill, Raphael took advantage of Shredder's distraction, and pushed the armor-plated felon down. Quickly, Raph pinned down Shredder with one of his legs, twirled one sai, and aimed for the killing blow, when Shredder yelled out "Stop!" and his blade hovered in phase.

"Well done" said Shredder, standing up, his hand pointing over to a skull "There, you shall find your reward."

Turning his gaze to the skull under the red Oni, Raphael sheathed his sais and walked over to the stone figure, noticing a silver glint shining in its eyes. Reaching his hands into the empty sockets, Raphael felt a click as something snapped onto his wrists, and he pulled his arms out, observing the new weapon he now held.

A twin set of his Master's own gauntlets, every bit as deadly as the pair on Shredder's own hands. These weapons would now be a symbol of his power and position within the Foot Clan. He had no need for the sais anymore.

Those puny tools were possessions for weaklings, the gauntlets meant power. And with more power came the right to destroy. Destroy and eliminate all that stood against Shredder's path.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the turtles lair, Donatello was busy pushing himself hard to find a cure for the mind control when he heard Casey Jones enter the lair. It was almost always Casey now.

Ever since the invasion had ended, April and her father had been busy helping in the city's recovery efforts, biting out a big chunk of time in the teen girl's schedule to pay regular visits to the turtles lair.

Although Casey's schedule was busy as well, making sure the city streets were clear of crime, he had more free time on his shoulders than April did, and found no complaints slipping through the sewers to greet his friends.

However, when Casey entered the lair this time, he was surprised to see how quiet it was. Mikey wasn't in the living room watching the latest episode of Crognard the Barbarian. There were four big beds in the living room that hadn't been there before. And, there wasn't a sign of Splinter and his sons in sight.

"Whoa" Casey wondered out loud " What is going on here?"

As if in answer to the hockey player's question, Donatello opened up his lab doors to greet Casey outside. Casey looked towards the turtle, and immediately the frown on Donatello's face.

"Donnie, what's going on?" said Casey "Where are the others?"

"I don't know where Mikey and Leo" said Don " but Master Splinter is in the infirmary. He got sliced by Leo's sword."

"What?" asked Casey shocked " Leo tried to kill him?"

"No!" said Don, forcefully " It wasn't Leo's fault. Rockwell made the blade cut Splinter. He's not the one to blame."

"Rockwell?" thought Casey curiously " The Mutanimals were here? Well that explains the extra beds. But where are they now?"

When he posed the question to Don, the purple-masked turtle replied that Leatherhead and Pete had gone back to check on things with the Underground. Where Slash and Rockwell were however, he hesitated to divulge. Casey immediately sensed that Donatello was hiding something.

"Spill it man!" Casey demanded "What's the big secret? You can trust me with the truth."

Donatello cringed as he finally forced the words out.

"Slash and Rockwell have gone back to Shredder" said Don " with Raphael in tow."

It only took a moment of shock for Casey to register what Donatello had just said.

"What?!" shouted Casey " My best bud has been kidnapped, and you wait until now to tell me! We've got to get him back right now!"

"Casey wait!" said Don " Raph is probably already under Shredder's mind control. We won't be able to save him without a cure and I haven't developed one yet. We'll save him. We just need to find out how."

* * *

While Casey and Donnie were chatting away in the living room, Leo, through with throwing his tantrum in the dojo, had entered into the infirmary, and sat down right by Splinter's side.

The old rat was breathing a lot easier now, and the bandage around his chest seemed clean. Leo just sat there, for several moments, cursing Shredder and his failure to help Splinter, when the giant rat's eyes suddenly awakened, noticing the blue-masked turtle in the room.

"Leonardo," said Splinter, causing his son to look.

"Master Splinter" said Leo shocked " I'm sorry Sensei, I didn't mean to disturb your sleep."

"It is alright" said Splinter "I assume that you have a question?"

"Yes Sensei" said Leo " I made a vow…to kill Shredder."

"I assumed that would be so" said Splinter, only slightly surprised by Leo's statement " after all the pain he has caused to our family it is only natural that you want revenge, but vengeance brings nothing good in its result. I many times had to restrain my own lust for vengeance, just so that I could remain true to myself."

"But Sensei" said Leo " it's different this time. Shredder has gone to far! We have to take him down, once and for all!"

"And then will you be satisfied?" asked Splinter, shocking Leonardo.

"No" the blue-masked turtle responded finally " not until I get my brother back."

"Then perhaps" said Splinter " there is hope for your vow after all."


	10. Chapter 10: Rescue Time

**Ch.10: Rescue Time**

Inside his bedroom, Mikey sighed, watching as Crognard pranced around on screen, battling against his mystic foes and achieving some level of victory through his barbarian might. The heroic antics of his fictional did little to lift the discomfort of Mikey's mood.

The orange-masked turtle's brain still bubbled over with worry about Raph. They had to go race out there and save their brother, and the rest of the Mutanimals team. The deal was, how would they achieve that? And could they get Raphael back at all?

"What if he's stuck with Shredder for life?" thought Mikey worriedly " We could lose him for good."

A loud noise from outside suddenly caught Mikey's attention, making him sit up in bed. Curious to what was going on, Mikey turned off Crognard, and stepped into the living room where Don, Leo, and Casey were waiting.

"What's happening?" asked Mikey, joining the group.

"We're going after Shredder," said Leo, his confidence resolved.

His talk with Master Splinter earlier had helped calm down some of the negative feelings in his mind, but the desire to make Shredder pay still burned bright.

"Leo" said Don " even though I agree, do we even have a plan? I still haven't made a cure for…,"

"We can't wait for that!" said Leo "The longer Raph is with Shredder, the greater chance he'll be kept away from us. Slash and Rockwell too. We have to break in and save them."

"Then let's fetch Leatherhead and Pete" said Casey " I'll take you to the Underground. Come on."

And with that said, the four heroes left.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the Underground, tension hung tight as Pete and Leatherhead worked to make sure all the mutants were taken care of. Jason, later to be known as Mondo Gecko, watched it all.

Just about a year ago, not long after he had mutated, and the Kraang decided to invade New York, Jason had been on the run for safe place to hide when he had been captured for experiments by the alien blobs. A lot of other mutants were captured along with him, doomed to share the same fate.

That's when the Mighty Mutanimals came on the scene, and then rescued them all. Ever since, Slash and his team had become Jason's heroes and he admired them from that day on.

The Underground project was a stroke of pure genius, where mutants like them could hang out until the Kraang had vanished. Jason wished he could contribute more to the cause, maybe even join the Mutanimals. But that dream didn't seem very likely.

Although he wouldn't admit to himself, his skate-boarding skills ranked far above the fighting slot. Jason counted himself lucky that he had even found a job at all, doing a little errand work outside the Underground for a fish mutant who called himself Mr. X.

"I just wish I could help them out" thought Jason, looking over to Leatherhead and Pete " especially now."

"Heh" sighed Leatherhead, standing by Pete "done."

"Finally" said Pete, slumping down next to the reptile " my wings are exhausted."

Then the pigeon glanced up at Leatherhead, noticing the sincere frown on the gator's face.

"Leatherhead?" he asked cautiously.

The gator's mind was caught up when he first agreed to join Slash. The large mutant turtle had found him, shivering in the sewers, trying to recover from the brutal assault handed to him by Shredder. Although his thick skin had withstood most of the force, Shredder's punches had been powerful and it took time to recover.

It wasn't a choice first meeting, but once Leatherhead realized that he and Slash shared some common ground, they quickly became a mutant team, picking up new friends along the way.

"I want that friendship back," thought Leatherhead, and then his T-Phone started to ring.

All of the Mutanimals had T-Phone's now, curtesy of Don, after they had gotten rid of the Kraang hoard. After listening for a few minutes, Leatherhead hung up the phone, and looked at Pete.

"Let's go," he said.

Moments later, the two mutants left the Underground, and, after waiting a few minutes, Jason followed suit.

Taken a tunnel opposite to where his heroes were heading, Jason decided to go look for a hole to surface, when something strange in the sewer water suddenly caught his eye. A bright trail of red liquid, to watery to be blood, swirled its way through the dark sludge.

"What's that?" the gecko wondered.

Little did Jason know that the whole city of New York was about to find out.

* * *

"Ahh," said Fishface grinning, as the recruited gang members finished dumping the last load into the city's water supply.

By early tomorrow morning, all of New York City would be screaming in chaos once the uprising began. A buzz suddenly occurred, making the fish mutant reach down for his cell.

"What is it?" Fishface demanded, answering the phone. Rahzar's voice came out clear on the other end.

"Turtles" explained the wolf-dog " heading for Shredder's lair."

Fishface grinned once he heard the news.

"Well then, let the games begin."

* * *

"It's time" said Shredder, when he received the news a few seconds later " Rockwell, Bebop, Rocksteady, you know what to do."

"Yes Master Shredder," said Rocksteady, and with that the three mutants left his sight.

A few minutes later, after the three mutants left, the sound of glass breaking from above occurred as it fell down and shattered against the floor. Fangs and weapons out, Leatherhead, Pete, and the turtles dropped down, and glared straight at the villain that had caused them so much strife.

"Ah" said Shredder, sarcastically, unimpressed at his foes " it seems that I have some unexpected guests."

With that said, Raphael and Slash suddenly stepped out of the shadows, mace and gauntlets held ready in hand. The look in their cold eyes was absolutely murderous.

"Now" continued Shredder " let us welcome you properly."


	11. Chapter 11: Shredder's Raid

**Ch.11: Shredder's Raid**

"Attack!" yelled Leo, spurring his teammates into action.

Instantly the whole group behind the blue-masked turtle's followed his lead, running their way across to Shredder's throne. However, before they could even make it up the ramp, frozen blasts of energy suddenly rained down in front of them, blocking their path.

Up on one of the rails near the roof, Tiger Claw grinned down at the pathetic rescue team, blowing off the smoke from his gun. Leo growled at the infortune at being delayed.

"Mikey! Pete!" commanded Leo to a part of his team " Take care of him!"

The pigeon and turtle immediately broke off to comply with their leader's command.

Swinging out his nunchucks, Mikey immediately jumped up, aiming a sharp blow for Tiger Claw's chest, but the swift cat instantly managed to dodge out of the way, and focused his eyes on Michelangelo, locking the orange-masked turtle with a glare.

Pete hovered around as the two opponents began their fight, waiting for opportunity where Michelangelo may need his aid.

Meanwhile, down below, Leo, Don, and Leatherhead continued to charge, getting closer to Shredder with each step.

The armor-plated villain was unimpressed by his foes and nodded to the two mutants beside him. Slash and Raphael nodded in return.

Pushing off of his feet, Leo jumped out, spinning as he slashed at Shredder with his swords. The sounds of screeching metal colliding echoed throughout the room, as Leo gasped seeing that his blades had been blocked.

However, the biggest shock was who had done the blocking, not Shredder but Raphael.

Before Leo's attack could hit home, Raphael had stepped out in front of Shredder, and crossed his gauntlets, providing a shield.

As Leo stood stunned by the fact that he would have go through Raph, Slash took his opportunity to lash out at Leatherhead and Don.

Narrowly, both mutants missed the deadly end of Slash's mace before recovering to attack. Whirling his staff, Donatello came at Slash from behind, while Leatherhead and jaws charged upfront.

Slash countered, smiling as he faced off against both foes, as Raphael approached Leo with his gauntlets, blades out and ready to kill. Leo fought to keep his focus as he gripped on his swords.

"Raph, snap out of it man!" said Leo, hoping to break through to his brother " Shredder's the enemy!"

"You are the enemy!" growled Raph, delivering a nasty slice.

Leo dodged and sliced back, his blade blocked by Raphael's second gauntlet as the red-masked turtle spun and delivered a side-kick to his chest. Backpedaling a few feet, Leo reacted just in time to block Raph's next strike, and pushed the turtle off, sinking back into his fighting pose.

"His moves are different from before" thought Leo to himself " more violent, deadly. Shredder must have been training him!"

That was just perfect. Raphael was already strong enough learning under Master Splinter's hands. Even Leo knew from multiple spars with his younger just how strong Raph truly was.

In battle, the red-masked turtle had proved this fact more than once, beating down his foes, but still holding back enough to let them live. But there was little chance for mercy this time, as each of moves were set for a lethal kill.

Swords and blades clashed as the two brothers faced off once again, looks of hope and hate battling out through their eyes.

"I'll save you Raph, I swear it!" thought Leo, and moved in again with his swords.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Slash's battle, the large turtle was finding it a challenge to face off against Leatherhead and Don. These two punks just wouldn't give up!

"Just fall already!" yelled Slash, as Leatherhead charged in for another assault.

The giant alligator was really only the true threat. His massive power made a great match for Slash's strength, while Donatello's fighting style was still as pathetic as it was years ago.

Slash's mind reflected back in pleasure when he had first beaten up the purple-masked teen. He was even more weak than Raphael said he was. Once that staff of his was broken, it was easy enough to slice in and beat him up for the kill.

"If only I had finished the job back then," thought Slash, as he blocked Leatherhead, and swung around to hit Don hard with his mace.

Donatello gave out a cry of pain as he was slammed across the room, and knocked unconscious by a cement wall. Slash grinned at the sight with malicious pleasure.

"One down…one to go."

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the rafters, Mikey and Pete were having some serious trouble going up against Tiger Claw. The mutant cat's excellent marksmanship kept both of his foes at bay.

Desperately Mikey searched around, looking for anything to give him an edge. Finally he spotted a small rod from above that helped with the ceiling support.

Turning one of his nunchucks into a chain, Mikey wrapped it around the support rod, and swung out as Tiger Claw unleashed another array of ice blasts. Tiger Claw growled at having missed his target, and was about to jet after Mikey when Pigeon Pete swooped in on Tiger Claw's back, pecking the mutant with his beak.

Annoyed at the interference, Tiger Claw the back of Pigeon Pete's neck, then jetted up into the air, before diving and slamming Pete hard into the ground.

"Pete!" yelled Mikey in shock and rage when he saw what happened to his friend.

Concerned, Mikey jumped down from the rafters, nunchucks swirling, determined to help his fellow mutant out, but was quickly met with ice and heat, bringing him down, right by Pete's side.

* * *

"We're the only ones left," said Leatherhead, sliding next to Leonardo as he was pushed by Slash, noting that the odds weighed heavily against their side.

Leo heaved but didn't respond, knowing that Leatherhead was right. This fight against Slash and Raphael had taken up to much time, and drained most their strength. They hadn't even gotten close to Shredder who was still spectating the whole event with his cruel gaze.

"We have to think of something, and fast!" Leo thought in his mind " If only there was some way we could pin them down."

Suddenly an idea sparked in Leo's brain, and he whispered his plan into Leatherhead's ear. The croc instantly grinned, and then with a great roar, charged Slash and Raphael.

Raph and Slash braced themselves for the impact of the gator's attack, weapons ready to slay, when Leo suddenly surprised them by running up Leatherhead's back, and then jumping to slice down with his swords.

Raph and Slash both dodged the assault, barely avoiding the sharp ends on Leo's katanas, but attack was only meant as a diversion anyway, directing attention away from Leatherhead's arms.

With a wicked smack, Leatherhead back-fisted both Raphael and Slash away at the same time, clearing the path towards Shredder.

"Now we'll end this!" said Leo, running up towards Shredder, only to be stopped when a new player decided to drop in from above.

Leo gasped in surprise, seeing his sister, and not so secret crush stand in his way. She seemed to have been cured of her mutant state.

"Karai?" asked Leo, amazed.

Karai just smiled sweetly at Leonardo, before transforming her arms into a pair of snake hands, biting deep into the turtle's flesh.

"Ugh," said Leo, feeling suddenly woozy as he collapsed on the ground "Karai…why did you…?"

Seeing Leo in trouble, Leatherhead tried to his friend's aid, only to be frozen to stop by Tiger Claw who had finished his battle with Mikey and Pete.

To tired to struggle free, Leatherhead watched with sad discomfort as Raph and Slash recovered from earlier blow and stepped up to join the gathering around the throne. This attack had been a disaster.

"We have failed."

Struggling to fight off the effects of Karai's poison, Leo managed to stand on his elbows, watching Shredder as he stepped down, stopping merely inches from his face.

"Your time is over" said Shredder " now the rest of your family will die. The world is mine turtle…accept it."

"I won't…" said Leo "Sensei will stop you."

"Maybe turtle" said Shredder " if he lives."

* * *

"Ah!" cried Splinter, sitting up in the lair, waking up after what seemed like a very bad dream.

No, it was more than a dream, a scent! The scent of danger!

Cradling his injured side, Master Splinter slowly moved himself to sit up upon the bed, sharpening his senses to the space around him.

Company was coming, with the intentions to kill and destroy, and no matter what physical pain he might suffer, Master Splinter was determined to defend his family's home.


	12. Chapter 12: Curing The Cause

**Ch.12: Curing The Cause**

"Graagh!" Casey grunted as he finally managed to sneak his way into the lower levels of Shredder's fortress.

Donatello's map of the air-ducts had proven extremely helpful, guiding the way to the entry point. A bit tight and slimy perhaps, but it all worked well, though Casey would rather be helping out in the big brawl up above.

"I hope the guys are doing okay in there," thought Casey, as he focused back in on his task; to find the Party Wagon and reclaim it from Shredder.

Now where would someone as vile as Shredder keep a stolen turtle vehicle in his base?

This was the first time Casey had ever really been inside of Shredder's stronghold. He didn't know it as well as the Turtles did, and was taking his best guess as he crept from room to room.

However, Shredder and his goons had all of those Dragon Cycles right? So there just had to be a garage somewhere!

Finally, Casey caught a lucky break when he heard the sounds of engines vroom beyond a nearby door. Opening it up, he caught sight of Fishface and posse of Foot-Bots as they returned from town.

The lights that flashed from the mouths of their Dragon cycles illuminated the garage, as Casey held back a shout of joy when he saw the Party Wagon lighted by those beams.

"Alright, time to sneak in," thought Casey, sneakingly making his way towards the vehicle.

He was only a foot or so away from stepping into the door, when a scream sounded making him stop.

"And just where do you think you're going?" said Fishface, picking up a young, twelve-year old girl by the neck of her shirt.

Casey gasped in instant recognition, not believing his own eyes.

"Angel?" he gasped.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the sewers, Jason was still curiously following the red trail of liquid he had spotted as it swirled down the sewers. The mutant had no idea why he felt the urge to follow this trail, but he was curious to know where it began.

From all of his time in the sewers, never had something this bizarre appeared. Losing track on how much he had spent actually tracing the trail, Jason caught himself as he finally stopped on the ragged layout of a subway track. The red liquid had vanished as soon as his foot hit, there was no more to follow.

"Ah well" Jason, a little disappointed that he couldn't complete the task " at least I'm close to the surface."

It was then that a sharp sound pierced its way through the tunnels, making the gecko peer off to his left. His eyes widened in surprise at the sight running towards him.

Racing down the tunnel, right now, was a man-sized rat, being chased by what looked like a very angry rhino.

* * *

Minutes before Jason would see Master Splinter running for his life, the old rat stood poised, battle ready in his home, to defeat the villainous intruders that invaded his lair.

His ears perked up, sensitive to the slightest of sounds. For a long moment the world seemed silent, and then…Punch!...Splinter thrust out his arm, striking the right side.

A grunt of pain sounded as Bebop suddenly became visible in the room. His high-tech camouflage proved no match in tricking Splinter's senses, the old rat never had a doubt he was there.

"So you spotted me huh?" said Bebop, activating his hip lasers " Well take this!"

With that said, the warthog danced letting his lasers fly like crazy across the room. Such a random assault was meant to keep his opponents of their toes, off balance, this did not work on Splinter.

Any foe who attacks randomly also leaves major holes in their defense, leaving plenty of gap for Splinter to dodge through, and attempt again to strike Bebop.

However, before Splinter could dare strike the pig again, Dr. Rockwell floated up behind the rat and blasted out a powerful wave of energy with his Splinter. Master Splinter immediately yelled, grabbing his head, disoriented from Rockwell's attack.

At that moment, Rocksteady saw his chance to charge in, and ran at Splinter with his horn.

Seeing the threat heading towards, Master Splinter planted his feet firm in the ground, and then dropped down his hands to grab onto Rocksteady's horn. The mutant gave a roar of surprise as Splinter placed his hands upon his nose, but had little time to register the shock as the rat suddenly shifted his weight and threw his heavier opponent straight into Bebop.

Bebop was instantly knocked out from the impact, Rocksteady however, didn't go down so easily. As the rhino got back up, Rockwell floated in behind Splinter, and used his mental powers to lift up the arcade machine, and aim it behind the rat.

Master Splinter quickly assessed the threats coming from both sides, and calmed himself to get ready to move. Rocksteady charged forward, Rockwell threw the machine at the back. Splinter waited for a few seconds and then dodged. The two forces continued forward. Rocksteady got hit by the machine, and hit back.

Both rhino and warthog were now out for the count, but Dr. Rockwell was still ready to play.

"You can't beat me," said Dr. Rockwell to Splinter, instantly transporting both his and Splinter's minds to a place where they could do battle on mental plain.

Master Splinter was not new to this type of battlefield. He had faced the dreadful Rat King on it many times, although the villain's mind control was strong and nearly overpowered him every time on this plain. However, it was not the Rat King Splinter was now facing but a friend, a friend who desperately needed to escape the vile trap Shredder put him in.

"Here Splinter" said Rockwell " will I destroy with the magnificence of my mind."

"A mind's magnificence is only tempered by the personality that controls it" said Splinter " and your vision has been tainted, which I shall now unbind."

Rockwell growled at that comment and attacked Splinter with all of his mental force, but Master Splinter stood still and ignored the blasts, chanting under his breath as he started making various signs with his hands.

Rockwell frowned in frustration when Splinter showed no reaction to what he was doing. The old rat just stood there, with his eyes closed, forming signs with his hands, and a white aura seemed to glow around him, surrounding his entire body.

Although it depraved Rockwell to think of it, if mental warfare wasn't going to work, he would just have to get physical.

Letting out an animalistic scream, Rockwell charged at Splinter, aiming to tear the rat apart. Master Splinter heard the cries and his eyes reopened. As Rockwell came close, Splinter struck out with his glowing white hands, hitting the monkey in the chest.

Instantly the illusion of the mental battlefield was shattered, and both mutants appeared inside the lair. Dr. Rockwell was now passed out on the floor, while Master Splinter breathed, relieved and exhausted, from the energy he had to expend.

"Be well my friend," said Splinter to Rockwell, and then suddenly heard a noise that indicated one of his enemies was back up.

Rocksteady had recovered from being hit by arcade machine and was now boiling mad. After letting loose several grunts, Rocksteady charged ahead at Splinter, and the rat speeded his way out the lair, 400 pounds of bone-crushing muscle chasing behind him.

Time seemed to stand still as both mutants pounded their way down the subway tracks. Master Splinter could sense Rocksteady growing closer and closer with every step. He had to find a way to counterattack, but how?

As if God had heard his prayer, a sudden yell echoed out through the tunnels, making both the rat and rhino turn in confusion. The shock on their faces only grew larger as a very silly-looking mutant gecko stood on a nearby platform, making jokes at Rocksteady's offense.

Steranko did not appreciate the insults, and started to charge at the new mutant instead, giving Master Splinter the opening he needed. Rapidly striking a crucial pressure point, Splinter knocked out Rocksteady, bringing the rhino to a deep slumber. He would no longer serve as a threat.

"Thank you my friend" said Splinter, as Jason walked over to him " you aid was appreciated."

"No problem" said the gecko " Name's Jason, glad I could help."

"Again thanks" said Splinter " now I must find my sons."

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the dungeons of Shredder's fortress, Don, Mikey, Leatherhead, and Pete woke up to find themselves caged, imprisoned behind bars with a lock that looked to tough to crack.

Leo was nowhere among them, and Don wondered where he could be, when suddenly the sound of cackles outside, dragged their attention to the front of the cage. Rahzar and Tiger Claw could be seen through the bars, both sporting evil grins on their mouths.

"Well, well" said Rahzar " look who's up? Enjoy your nap freaks?"

"I would be careful throwing around that word if I were you," said Don.

"Growl!" Rahzar said.

"Easy" said Tiger Claw, putting a paw on his friend's shoulder " much has happened since their nap."

"What are you talking about?" asked Mikey " Where's Leo?"

"You were two slow to stop us turtles" said Tiger Claw " Stockman's serum now flows deep within the water supply. Soon enough, every citizen in New York will be under Shredder's control."

"And as for brother…" Rahzar paused, then laughed, savoring the terror as it grew on the turtles and their friends faces " let's just say that Karai decided to give a farewell kiss, a long farewell."

With another round of laughter from the wolf's mouth, both he and Tiger Claw walked off, leaving the others to trouble about the news that had just been explained.

Meanwhile, in a far away room, a blue-masked turtle lay strapped to a medical bed, with a heart monitor strapped to his arm. The line flashing across the screen slowly peaked and glowed, barely maintaining a beep.


	13. Chapter 13: Trouble Flies

**Ch.13: Trouble Flies**

Far away, in another zone of existence, known as the Null Time, the apprentice timestress Renet roughly sighed as she dusted over the shelves Lord Simultaneous asked her to clean.

"If I knew housework was going to be part of apprentice duty" said the black-haired female to herself " I wouldn't have fought so hard for the job."

Beneath her complaints however, Renet had to admit that being chosen to learn under the Master of Time himself was a great honor. Lord Simultaneous was in charge in keeping watch through all the timelines, and making sure the forces of order and chaos stayed balanced.

He was very careful with his powers, and had never made a mistake in his millennium, but he was getting old, and young blood was required to learn his secrets so time could stay balanced for the generations to come.

However, since Renet first started her apprenticeship six cycles ago, the old master hadn't taught her much, except that 'respect the power of time or it will humble you.'

Finally finished with her dusting, Renet placed her duster down, and exited the artifact room to make her way to the Time Gate, where Lord Simultaneous focused on achieving balance through times.

The Time Gate room was huge, and had stunned Renet on her first day. In this space, millions of magic monitors flashed along the walls, playing pictures of various times as things were happening in the present.

In one window, a black and red jet soared through the air as it occupants raced to save their hometown from another monster attack. And in another, a man with metal claws was rushing through the woods to help his friends.

"Ah Renet" said Lord Simultaneous, standing in the center of the room, dressed in long, white robes and a scepter in his hands "have you finished your task?"

"Yes Master" said Renet " it still amazes me how many universes need to be kept in balance."

"With time my dear" said Simultaneous " infinity is a principle that is difficult to master. Now, come closer, and look into the Orb of Hindsight, tell me what you see."

Without hesitation, Renet walked over to where Lord Simultaneous was standing and placed her hands upon a large orb that stood on a table just in front of her master.

The Orb of Hindsight was a very powerful artifact that had a talent for picking up events where great life changes were about to occur. Some of those life changes were bad, while others were very good.

Focusing her energy to peer into time, Renet honed in on a scene of chaos happening on one of the Earths, and gasped, backing away with shock as her eyes opened back to reality, heavy breaths pouring from her throat.

"Renet" asked Lord Simultaneous, looking at his apprentice with concern " tell me, what did you see?"

"A metal man" said Renet " he fell into some kind of vat and changed, for the worse of his future."

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the sewers, Dr. Rockwell was just waking up, a bit woozy from the battle he and Splinter had had earlier in their minds. His eyes widened with shock when he saw he was in the turtles lair, and that Bebop lay nearby, unconscious on the floor.

"What happened?" asked Rockwell, trying to recall the events that had led to this stage, and suddenly all of the memories came back in a flash;

How he had been captured by Shredder, kidnapping Raphael, and leading an assault on the lair in order to end Splinter's life.

"The mind control serum" Rockwell thought to himself " Splinter cured me. I'm back. But Slash isn't! He's still being controlled! I have to go save him, as Splinter did for me."

A small groan interrupted the chimp's thoughts before he could even think to exit from the lair. Turning around, Rockwell focused his gaze upon the prone form of Bebop, whose body was slightly beginning to stir.

"But first I must get him out of here," thought Rockwell, and focused his mind to levitate the pig.

Within seconds, Bebop's body was lifted off of the ground, and floated off after Rockwell, as the monkey climbed out to the streets, seeking to aid his friends.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Shredder's hideout, in the garage, Casey still couldn't believe the fact that his little sister Angel was here. What the heck was she doing with these thugs? Was she insane?

Apparently Angel thought the same thing, and cursed herself for getting captured like this. It had been stupid to follow her big brother as he snuck out to fight crime tonight, but ever since she had discovered Casey had been playing vigilante, she just wanted to see him do his thing and come home alive.

Angel had managed to keep Casey in her sights through the first couple of alleys, but then lost track as he suddenly turned a corner and disappeared, vanishing from sight. Not noticing the manhole cover as she walked over it, Angel kept searching for her brother until…Bang!... she bumped into someone else.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" a man started to shout at her, and then gasped in recognition "Angel?"

"Nick?" Angel asked, confused.

She hadn't seen Nick in a long time, not ever since Casey accidently sent him to the hospital during a hockey game one year. Since then, the brown-haired teen had never spoken to any of the Jones family again, refusing to put away his grudge over Casey's mistake.

"Never thought that I'd see you again" said Nick, narrowing his gaze at Angel "though I'm afraid you've came at a bad time."

With that said, Nick suddenly grabbed hold of Angel's arms, and twisted them behind her back as he turned her towards the wall. Ignoring her screams of protest, Nick brought out a roll of duct tape and used it to tape up Angel's wrists, just as an alarm went off, and about a dozen Foot-Bots running outside, their limbs filled with loot.

Angel gasped at the scene, not able to believe her eyes as Nick placed one more piece of duct tape over her mouth. Her shock only grew more when Fishface rolled up on his motorcycle, asking for an update from Nick.

"He's working for a fish?" Angel thought to herself in disbelief " Just what is going on here?"

"She's a witness" said Nick " and a connection to the turtles friends."

"Very good Nick" said Fishface, taking Angel onto his bike " I will make sure she is dealt with properly."

And now here she was, stuck in some villainous church, struggling to get away from a mutant and his army.

"I wish my brother was here," Angel thought when she couldn't get out of the fish's grasp.

Like an answer to her prayer, the Party Wagon suddenly roared to life with Casey behind the wheel. Desperate to save his sister, Casey rammed the van forward, slamming into the Foot-Bots and made Fishface separate himself from Angel.

Firing the deer head's flamethrower eyes, Casey sent Fishface and his goons running for the hills, as he pulled up the van right next to Angel and motioned for her to get inside.

"Come on Sis, get in!" yelled Casey, and Angel immediately obeyed.

Doors locked tight, Casey pressed down hard on the accelerator, and slammed out the fence, blocking the way to the upper floors of Shredder's lair. Time to search and rescue and escape before anything else went down.

* * *

"Ugh" sighed Mikey, impatiently tapping his fingers to the clicking sounds of their cell lock " Can't you hurry it up Donnie?"

"I'm moving as fast as I can Mikey" answered the purple-masked turtle, taking a brief break from his work " The tanto isn't exactly the best lock pick, and this lock is difficult to crack."

"Raph could have opened it," Mikey muttered, and suddenly the whole air grew tense with silence.

"Raph…Leo…," Don whispered in his thoughts.

The poor genius turtle didn't know what to do and started to focus his mind back on his work, but one half of his brain couldn't help but recall the terrifying situation they faced now. If Tiger Claw and Rahzar were to be believed the people of were now being influenced to Shredder's control, and Leo was on the brink of death.

"We have to find a way to stop this," wondered Don out loud.

"But how?" asked Pete " Even if we escape we still don't have any way to cure everyone. I'm a little surprised Shredder didn't take control of us himself."

"That's odd" Don agreed " maybe Shredder's mind control formula is running low."

"Or he doesn't care" suggested Leatherhead, narrowing his eyes "which means we shouldn't waste our time here."

With that said, the giant crocodile suddenly bent down and charged at the door, speeding up with all his power and might.

"Yah!" cried Don, barely dodging out of the way as Leatherhead burrowed through the door. The door bowled all the way over with a hinging snap.

"We're free!" shouted Leatherhead, and Mikey cheered.

"So much for finesse" said Don, replacing his tanto, and then walked to join the others outside "Alright, Pete, go see if you can find Casey and tell him to be ready with the van. Leatherhead, you and me will see if we can find Leo. Mikey, I want you to make your way to Stockman's lab and make sure he never makes another batch of serum."

"Got it man!" said Mikey " Breaking stuff is my specialty."

And with that plan in motion, the four mutants split up to accomplish their tasks.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside of the infirmary, Leo was still trying hard to fight off the poison injected by Karai. His face sweat as his body twisted and turned, the beeping of the heart monitor synchronizing with every stressful beat.

Inside the poor leader's head, he was experiencing nightmares like he had never dreamed. Everyone controlled, and completely under Shredder's command. His brothers, slain, ended of their innocent life.

But the worst part of the nightmare is when Leo found himself cornered by Shredder and the evil Raphael, eyes lost to the brotherhood they once knew. Slicing out his gauntlets, Raph charged at Leo with all his might, and Shredder joined in as well.

Desperately, Leo tried to counter against them, swinging out his katanas in a deadly shielding dance, but Raph and Shredder were to aggressive to be stopped, and jabbed their way through the shield.

"Yah!" Leo's cry shouted out to the real world, while his dream self was stabbed.

"Pathetic" whispered Slash, who stood in the infirmary, watching Leo as he writhed " The great Leonardo, dying from a little poison bite. Either way, you will no longer interfere with Raphael's life."

"Slash" said Karai suddenly walking in " you know you're not allowed in this room."

"Just checking up on our patient" said Slash " How long before he's gone?"

"A couple of more hours at least" said Karai " He's fighting the poison well."

"Heh" said Slash " to bad New York can't say the same. I just got word that a crowd of people have just pledged themselves to Shredder's cause. Soon, all of New York will be in our hands."

"Yes" hissed Karai, smiling big " it will."

And outside, on the street, in the center of town square, the crowd Slash had been told about stood and cheered, praising their loyalty to the Shredder. Among the patrons, two individuals stood out; a red-haired girl and her father, chanting with the rest.


	14. Chapter 14: Bishop's Night

**Ch.14: Bishop's Night**

"Madness. Chaos," grumbled a man, as he peered out the window to the unruly crowd outside "Chaplin, I have to say that is worst I've seen in New York since the invasion."

"I agree with you Sir" said the red-haired scientist " but how do we solve it? The Earth Protection Force is…,"

"I hope you're not doubting my progress gentlemen," said a dark-haired man suddenly entering the room.

"Agent Bishop" greeted the first man with a bow " No, of course we weren't. Everything has been progressing smoothly since you've taken hold of the EPF. Soon everyone shall forget all about these Kraang."

"Don't support false hope" said Bishop, giving the bald, black man a hard stare " After all Striker, weird things seem to follow this city around. What can you report on this most current crisis?"

"Uh well Mr. Bishop" stumbled Chaplin " it appears that the citizens of New York are starting to praise their loyalty to someone called Shredder. By last count nearly half the town has been gathered in the square."

"Any thought to this Shredder?" asked Bishop.

"No Sir," the scientist answered.

"That's not the only strange thing" said Striker, looking towards Bishop " I went to get a cup water while we were waiting for you, but it looked weird coming out of the faucet, so I gave a sample for Chaplin to analyze."

"Very well" said Bishop, throwing a glance at Chaplin before moving on " the last thing we need is for more trouble to happen. Come along gentlemen, we have a crowd to disperse."

* * *

"Shredder! Shredder!" continued the crowd cheering in the square, clueless to anyone sane around them.

One sane person was watching from afar, in an alley, where his mutated mess of a body nearly blended in perfectly with the trash on the street. New York's own monster hero, Muckman. The garbage themed mutant just shook his head at the sight.

"This isn't good Eyeball" said Muckman to his little sidekick " the whole city looks like it has gone insane!"

"You're telling me!" said Joe, Muckman's independent eye "this has to be stopped."

"But how?" asked Muckman.

"Hey don't ask me" said Joe Eyeball " you're the monster hero."

"Hmm" grumbled Muckman " some help you are. Wait, here comes the EPF!"

Seconds later, Bishop and his men pulled up in their vans, stepping out armed as they greeted the hostile crowd that was not pleased to see them there.

"You're not Shredder!"

"We don't want you!"

"Get out!"

"Sir?" asked one of the EPF soldiers, turning to Bishop.

"Arrest them," said the agent, and with that the entire government force moved.

Using strict and very violent means, Agent Bishop's men brutally attacked the mind-controlled citizens of New York, subduing them on the ground by whatever means necessary despite the pain caused to the innocent. Muckman was appalled.

The government had no right to just viciously attack like that. They were supposed to be the good guys! But the man in charge seemed like he was enjoying all this chaos, judging from the smug grin on his lips.

Anger boiled up deep from Muckman's gut, but before the mutant could make any move to stop this disaster, something unexpected bumped into him.

"Oof!" Muckman cried, before turning around to see who had hit.

"Wow" said the mutant gecko before him " this just isn't my day."

"Who are you supposed to be" questioned Muckman " a lizard or something?"

"Gecko actually" said the mutant " Name's Jason, I was just heading back to my crib."

"Well I'd say you'd better take a different route" said Muckman, looking back at the crowd " this whole city has turned weird."

"Tell me about it" said Jason " I spotted this crazy goop in the sewers, got caught in a fight and…,"

"Wait a minute" interrupted Muckman " what crazy goop?"

"This red stuff in the water" said Jason " it's spreading out everywhere."

"Looks worth investigating" said Muckman to his eyeball, and then looked back at the kid " Take us there. If that goop is causing this mess, I say we purify it!"

* * *

Meanwhile, outside of Shredder's stronghold, Master Splinter stood looking up at the fortress, determination set in his eyes. The cut in his side was throbbing again from pain, a sensation he had barely thought of when facing Bebop and Rocksteady back in the lair.

However, right now, his injury was the last of Splinter's concerns. Already the rat's mind was filled with complete worry for his sons, and resentment towards Shredder for anymore evil he might use against them.

For years, the evil has spread increased to harm anyone within his sights. Now had come the time to end things once and for all. Tonight, Shredder shall be destroyed.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere inside the fortress, Pigeon Pete had finally managed to find Casey and the Party Wagon located in a smaller room. The sight of a third party, Angel, stunned Pete for a bit, but the pigeon quickly shook off his confusion and relayed to Casey Don's plan.

"Alright" said Casey, when Pete was finished " then once they come back, we're out of here."

"Don't count on it my friends!" said Fishface, suddenly appearing in the room, his balisword in hand "You'll never leave here alive!"

* * *

At that time, Donatello and Leatherhead had finally managed to locate the infirmary where a poisoned Leo was still fighting for his life. The sight of sick brother shook Donnie to the core, as he quickly leaned over to get to work on healing him.

Leatherhead stood on guard, suspicious of the darkness of the room. For a clinic, it seemed Shredder spend to much money for illumination, or was there some other reason for the lacking light?

The answer to Leatherhead's question soon came when he felt a presence seeking behind, and quickly turned around to hit Karai as she moved in for a bite.

Donatello's concentration was instantly broken by the noise of Leatherhead's fight, but before the purple-masked reptile could even figure out what was going, a flash of metal caught his peripheral vision, and he dodged just in time to avoid getting slammed with a mace.

"Grr!" Slash growled, stepping out into the light, armed and ready to take another shot.

"This is bad" thought Don, drawing out his bo " I just hope the others are doing okay,"

* * *

"Any answers Stockman?" demanded Shredder in the fly's lab "How did he resist the formula?"

"It's amazing Sir" said Stockman, turning to Shredder " but his mind seems to be adjusting, attacking the serum. I may have to resort to stronger means to keep him on our side."

This was exactly the news Shredder didn't want to hear, as he focused his cold gaze upon Raphael who lay strapped unconscious to the table, gauntlets still on hand.

This trouble had happened soon after they had defeated the turtles and their friends once they had infiltrated the lair. After Leo had fell poisoned to the ground, something odd had happened to Raphael causing him to temporarily disobey Shredder's commands.

Shredder was angry at this, and immediately took his 'apprentice' over to Stockman to run some tests. The serum was supposed to wipe his mind, and make him completely loyal to the Foot, what memory could possibly still be there for him to resist?

Just at that moment, Mikey entered the room to carry out Donnie's command and destroy Stockman's lab. However, when the orange-masked turtle noticed Raph, Stockman, and Shredder in the room it immediately caught his gaze.

"What's going on here?" thought Mikey, looking to the prone form of his brother "What are they doing to Raphael?"

Something worse than mind control entered Mikey's thoughts as his muscles immediately tensed with the sensation to save his brother. Even if Raph still saw him as his enemy after the rescue didn't matter one bit.

Mikey would free him, and take Shredder down!


	15. Chapter 15: Waking Memories

**Ch.15: Waking Memories**

Doors swished open as Rahzar and Tiger Claw found themselves reentering Shredder's throne room, waiting patiently for more orders once the Shredder came back from Stockman's lab.

"Hmm!" said Tiger Claw, his senses immediately coming on the alert "Sniff, sniff…Grr!"

"What is it?" asked Rahzar, looking towards his friend.

"I smell a rat," said Tiger Claw, pointing to one of the ledges above.

Sure enough, when Rahzar looked up, there stood Master Splinter standing on the roof ledge, eyes set in a serious gaze as he had obviously come for a fight.

Pouncing down on the ground between the two mutants, Master Splinter readied himself in a fighting stance, ready to defend against whatever his adversaries decided to throw. Rahzar and Tiger Claw didn't need to wait to be invited further, and both charged in to attack.

Tiger Claw immediately threw out an array of punches towards Splinter, which the rat quickly turned to defend. Blocking the punches presented an opportunity to Rahzar, who swung out his claws at Splinter's exposed back, intending to inflict a mortal wound.

But Master Splinter was not unaware of his presence, and immediately knocked the wolf over with a slick swipe from his tail, as he blocked another punch from Tiger Claw.

Rahzar, surprised, quickly tripped and fell over Splinter's unexpected assault, plunging towards Tiger Claw as the punch Splinter just blocked redirected upwards and slammed into his jaw.

Disappearing fast between his two opponents, Splinter ran over to the side, while Tiger Claw stood stunned for a second, staring at his unconscious comrade on the floor.

"Well played," said Tiger Claw, drawing out his guns, and immediately started firing freeze and heat blasts towards Splinter.

Splinter had no trouble dodging the deadly beams as he used his rat-like agility to avoid from being hit. His quickness frustrated Tiger Claw, making the cat even more determined to hit his mark.

Just then, Splinter disappeared from his sight, making the mutant tiger confused. In just one second of unfocused anger, he had lost sight on the ninja rat. Master Splinter could now appear from anywhere now, and he would be useless to stop it.

"My eyes you can deceive" muttered Tiger Claw to himself " but my nose knows your scent well."

"Even attuned senses can be deceived," said Splinter, surprising Tiger Claw by appearing at his back.

Before the mutant cat could recover from his shock, Master Splinter instantly punched Tiger Claw away, pushing the mutant onto the glass ceiling where the aquarium in the floor lay. The fragile glass immediately cracked under the tiger's weight, sending him plunging to his doom.

Seconds after he went down, Tiger Claw sprang back up, sputtering curses and revenge against Splinter as the rat approached to finish his fate.

Twirling the freeze gun he had snatched from Tiger Claw's belt before sending him for a swim, Splinter immediately aimed that gun towards the water and froze it solid, trapping Tiger Claw in a thick layer of ice.

Confident that his foes were now defeated, Splinter dropped the gun, and immediately ran out to search the chambers of the fortress.

"Hold on my sons" said Splinter to himself " I am coming soon,"

* * *

"Grr!" growled Slash, as he missed another swing at Donatello with his mace "This pest is just as troublesome as he was years ago."

Back then, it had helped when he had the element of surprise, grabbing Don and beating him quickly before Raph got through with Leo and noticed he was gone. This time that advantage didn't exist, and Don was more than ready to fight back.

He may not the same amount of power as Slash, but a few well-placed strikes could probably give him an edge.

To Don's right, Leatherhead was still having trouble with the vicious Karai. Her ability to transform from snake to human in a flash made her a dangerous foe to be reckoned with. Luckily Leatherhead's armor-like scales proved a tough defense against Karai's bites.

Her venom had trouble getting through to him, and Leatherhead's sheer size and power made excellent tools for keeping her at bay.

But even though Leatherhead could sense that the fight was going well, it was taking to much time. Leo's poisoned state grew worse by the second. If he and Don didn't cure him soon, the blue-banded turtle might not even survive.

"We need a miracle," Leatherhead thought, and with that the gator's wish was granted.

Rockwell suddenly came in, blasting Slash and Karai with physic thoughts, and putting an end to the fight. Roars of pain erupted from Slash and Karai's mouths, soon settling down into gasps of confusion.

Reality came back to hit Slash like a tidal wave as he finally became fully aware of the horrible things he had done.

"Leo!" said Karai, running over to the turtle, while Don and Leatherhead walked over to thank Rockwell for his timely assist.

Briefly, the doc explained how Master Splinter had cured him from being controlled before going to help Don rescue Leo from his poisoned state.

Guilt and anger flashed through Slash's mind all at once as he thought about the damage Shredder's mind control made him do while suffering its effects. Suddenly, his whole mind began to shudder at the prick of a horrible thought.

"Raphael!" Slash screamed in his mind, worried about his former master's current state.

He was controlled now too! What was Shredder doing to him?!

"This is all my fault" Slash grumbled to himself " all my fault."

* * *

Meanwhile, down by the Party Wagon, both Fishface and Casey were locked in a fierce struggle to see who would come out on top. Knife and stick clashed as each opponent tried to gain an edge.

Fishface was impressed. This punk was almost as good as Raphael; street-like and fierce in temper, but he lacked control over his skills making him vulnerable to defeat.

Angel was worried as she watched her brother, cradling the unconscious pigeon who had tried to help in the fight. She had never felt so useless.

Here was her brother acting so brave and strong, and all she could do was stay on the sidelines and watch.

"There must be some way I can help," Angel thought in her mind.

She glanced over at the Party Wagon and suddenly got an idea.

"It's over now boy," said Fishface, kicking Casey down to the ground before raising up his balisword. "time to sleep with the fishes."

However, just as Xever was about to strike the killing blow, Angel's voice shouted out loudly from the van.

"Fish Fry!" she shouted, activating the deer head on top.

A jet of flame immediately shot towards Fishface, making him jump back away from Case. Taking that as his cue for payback, Casey activated the shocker on his tazer glove and pressed it up against Fishface's scales.

The dangerous mutant cried out in pain before tumbling down to the floor, losing grip on his weapon as he passed out into darkness.

"Wait to go Sis," said Casey, shooting a thumbs up towards the van.

The passenger inside just blushed and grinned.

* * *

"Uh" grunted Raphael, his green eyes waking to darkness " where am I?"

The whole world around him was empty and black, with only a slight red haze hanging around the edges of space, adding to the spookiness in the air. A small shiver of fear passed through Raphael's spine, but also a strong sense of recognition as well.

"It's like I've been here before" though Raph " but that can't be…right?"

"I don't know" suddenly spoke out a dark voice " can it?"

All of a sudden, an evil figure stepped out of the dark, surprising Raphael in every way. It was like he was looking in a mirror for the figure was him. Everything about him the same, from the color of his skin to the lightning-shaped crack on his shell.

The one thing that was different was the color of the mask, and the eyes held behind it. The mask was pitch black, and the eyes were red, red as the hate and anger Raphael fought to keep buried deep within his soul. Shredder's gauntlets also adorned his wrists, making him look more deadly and mean.

"Even without your memories" said Dark Raphael to his counterpart " you still find ways to resist."

"What…what do you mean?" asked Raph confused " Who are you?"

"What you should be" answered Dark Raphael " Really Raphael, you wouldn't be half the warrior you are without me. Remember how weak and pathetic you used to be?"

"No," said Raph.

"Then I'll show you,"

With that said, the darkness around suddenly shifted and changed, until the scene of the sewer system was revealed. Raphael looked at all his surroundings in wonder. Something was very familiar about this place, it felt like…home.

"Did I live here?" he asked.

Suddenly, the sound of voices could be heard, and Raphael looked over to see a quartet of turtle siblings walking down the tunnels. Each were small, with different shades of green skin, and had different colored bandanas hanging from their necks. At least, three of them did.

The fourth turtle, walking far behind the others, had no colored bandana around his neck, and looked as if he had been injured from the bandages wrapped around his arm and waist. This turtle looked familiar to Raphael, and he had a faint as to why.

"Come on guys" said the first, with a blue bandana around his neck " we have to catch up with Master Splinter."

"How about you catch up" said the fourth turtle " and I'll fall behind."

"Come on Raph" said the second turtle with orange " that's a bit harsh man."

"Yeah" said the third with purple " after all, you know what you did was wrong."

"There was nothing wrong about me trying to get my bandana back!" said the fourth turtle, who Raphael now saw as himself " What's wrong is what happened after."

"Raph, like it or not" said the turtle in blue " Sensei's right. You're not strong enough yet. Your actions almost got you killed."

"Maybe I should have been killed" grumbled little Raph "what would you care anyway?"

And with that said, the little turtle walked off ahead of his brothers, never glancing back.

"Hahaha" suddenly laughed out a dark voice as the scene twisted and changed " a bit morbid aren't we?"

A giant crocodile had suddenly appeared, vicious-looking and battle-scarred. His red eyes gleered evil as he focused his gaze on Raphael, fangs glistening in the dark light.

"You think death will make everything better?" said the croc, his evil voice making Raph's spine shiver with fear " Maybe I was wrong about you brat. Your heart is as black as mine, filled with nothing but hate."

"No! No!" cried Raphael, putting his hands to his head as everything once again became dark " I'm not like him! I'm not!"

Cries of pain suddenly caught Raph's ear, urging the turtle to look behind him. There another horrible sight was taking place.

"Slash?" gasped Raph, surprised to the large turtle here as well.

Currently, Slash was engaged in combat with the three masked turtles Raph remembered taking on in Shredder's lair. His ways were brutal, and quickly Slash's enemies fell to the ground, beaten and bloodied.

"What's going on here?" wondered Raph to himself, as Slash finally looked and took notice he was there.

"Ah Raphael" the large turtle grinned " good to see you brother. Go ahead and finish the job, end them."

Raphael didn't know how to respond, looking down to his hands where Shredder's gauntlets were suddenly placed. How did these get here? He didn't have them on when he awoke to the dark.

"But that other me did," thought Raph.

"That's right" whispered a dark voice from the abyss " now stand up and kill. Start with Leonardo."

The blue-masked turtle now lay trembling before Raphael's feet, brutally cut by the unmerciful claws of Slash. His eyes were glazed over in thin cover of confidence and fear, as Raphael approached and raised the sharp end of his gauntlets to deliver the killing blow.

"Raph please no!" shouted Leo " Remember who you are!"

"Don't let him distract you" hissed the darkness " Do it! We're waiting."

"We?" thought Raphael, looking around to see that he and the injured Leo were nearly surrounded by every villain they had ever faced.

All of them glared hard at the red-masked turtle, impatient for Leo's death. Raph looked down at Leo one last time.

"Raph," muttered the turtle weakly.

"Leo?" questioned Raph.

Suddenly, a dark snake-like coil erupted from the ground and wrapped itself around Raph, squeezing him tight. Growling, Raphael struggled to get free as his dark self reemerged, eyes glowing with hate.

"I will not be defeated by you again!" said the dark counterpart " You are mine Raphael, now and forever."

"Noo!" screamed Raph to the dark.

* * *

"Noo!"

Mikey cringed at the sound of hearing his brother in pain. Shredder and Stockman had once again injected Raphael. Who knows what kind of horrors he was facing in his mind.

"Those jerks" Mikey thought, planting the last of his bombs " it's time for some payback."

With that said, Mikey hooked his kursurigama onto a bar and swung down, yelling into the air, making the villains start and look up at the strange sight.

Soon dozens of furious explosions occurred, courtesy of the nag rocks Mikey had set and ignited with his yell. The orange-masked turtle had decided to keep some as souvenirs since his and his brothers last visit to Dimension X.

"No!" cried Stockman, as tons of his precious equitment fell and tore apart.

One very large piece landed right on top of the fly, pinning him painfully against the ground. Shredder however was not so easily flattened, as he dodged the debris falling towards him in a flash.

Luckily, none of the falling chunks landed on Raphael. Mikey had been very careful on where he had set the bang rocks. He didn't want to crush his brother within mere moments of rescue.

Finally, Mikey landed on the ground and found himself face to face with the enemy. The Shredder glared down at the orange-masked reptile, gauntlets out and ready to kill.

Mikey just glared back, spinning out his nunchucks before he charged. Determination was set in eyes. He would get Raph out of here, no matter what!

It seemed unnatural how good Shredder was at performing his skills. As Mikey attacked, Shredder quickly blocked, deflecting all the blows sent his way before striking back with his own. Poor Mikey let out a gasp of air as he was pushed back, breathing out in pain.

Mikey knew that he was taking a chance with going up a ninja master. Heck, even the strength of four turtles combined had barely taken him down in the past. The odds of him winning this battle were slim to none, but Mikey didn't really care about the odds. Raph needed him, and he was going to win!

"Oof!" Mikey cried, as he was suddenly kicked to the floor, followed shortly after by Shredder stamping his chest with his foot.

"Time to die turtle," said Shredder, drawing up his blades.

Mikey closed his eyes tight, preparing for the imminent death to follow. However, before the Shredder could plunge in his blade, a sudden whack sent him sailing off of Mikey's chest, and an angry growl filled the air.

"Huh?" said Mikey, eyes opening with shock as he glanced upon his savoir " Master Splinter!"

The ninja rat had arrived.


	16. Chapter 16: The Shredder Falls

**Ch.16: The Shredder Falls**

"Yoshi!" Shredder growled, eyes narrowing as he gazed at his old foe " How fortunate for you to arrive. Tonight, you shall meet your end."

"Not before you meet yours Shredder!" said Splinter, charging towards his opponent.

Immediately the two powerful ninjas clashed, striking out mercilessly with punches and kicks as Mikey lay, watching with amazement. It truly was a sight seeing his sensei block most of Shredhead's attacks. The orange-masked turtle's heart pumped with excitement, praying that Splinter would come out on top.

A soft groan suddenly shattered Mikey's dome of admiration as he finally tore his eyes away from the fight to focus on the prone form of his brother, Raphael.

The red-masked turtle's skin was sticky with sweat, as his face contorted in an uncomfortable grimace of pain. Mikey hated to see his strong brother like this, and immediately went to work in setting him free.

"Raph! Raph!" called Mikey, as he undid the clasps binding his brother "Wake up please!"

As the last clasp came undone, Raphael's eyes finally snapped awake, staring out at Mikey with a feeling of emptiness and hatred. He immediately activated the gauntlets sitting on his hands, making Mikey jump back a bit with fright.

From up above, battling close to where Stockman's mutation tank hung, Shredder and Splinter were still in a fierce combat, when both happened to glance at the scene taking place below.

"Michelangelo!" yelled Splinter, immediately worried for his son. Shredder quickly kicked him in the stomach and the rat fell.

"It's over Hamato!" said Shredder, glaring at the ground " Raphael, destroy!"

Immediately Raphael went to follow Shredder's command, slicing at Mikey with his blades.

Mikey quickly dodged his way out Raph's blows, backing up, and swinging out his nunchucks for defense. Raphael was in a very dangerous state right now, and Mikey had no plans for being turned into cold cuts.

"Rah!" called Raph, lunging in again while Mikey blocked.

Normally, Mikey was used to Raph going all hostile on him, especially if he had annoyed his brother with a prank. Although Raph was known as the more hot-tempered one of the turtles, he held a lot of strength back when pounding his brothers, keeping the fatal edge of his anger restrained.

But now there was no more edge to block Raphael's angry process. Shredder's mind control serum had removed the barrier keeping Raph's rage under control, and his mind was set to kill.

"I got to think of something fast!" thought Mikey, immediately racking his brain for a plan.

A few blows later, the orange-masked turtle settled on an idea that just may end the fight.

"Sorry about this Raph" said Mikey, dodging another blow " but I have to do this."

With that said, Mikey suddenly jumped up into the air and threw out his kusurigama chain, lassoing it around Raph's chest. As he descended to the ground, Mikey yanked the chain hard, pulling his red-masked brother off his feet. Raphael landed hard on the ground, growling with pain, as Mikey landed pleased to see his plan had worked.

"Alright Raph" said Mikey, stalking closer to his brother "time to take you home,"

But the orange-masked turtle had given up his guard to soon. When Mikey got close, Raphael quickly spun around on his shell, sweeping Mikey to the ground. The chain around him loosened by Mikey's fall, Raphael activated the middle blade, plunging it straight to his brother's chest.

"Ow!" exclaimed Mikey, as the blade started to dig in to the soft part of his shell.

"Roar!" suddenly screamed a strong voice, knocking Raphael away from his bro.

The red-masked turtle tumbled a few feet away, before lying down in an unconscious heap.

"Are you okay?" asked the newcomer, helping Mikey up.

"Slash" said Mikey, relieved to see the large turtle on their side " thanks for the help."

Slash smiled at the thanks, before turning back around to look at Raph. Guilt hung heavy in the black-masked reptile's heart.

"He never would have gotten this way, if it wasn't for me."

Quickly shaking the dire thoughts from his head, Slash looked back to Mikey.

"Come on" said Slash " let's grab him and go. The others are already out."

"Wait!" said Mikey, stopping Slash in his tracks " We can't leave Master Splinter behind!"

* * *

Up above, the two ninja masters were still going strong, although Splinter's performance was hindered by the sword wound in his side.

All of the battles he had faced up to this point had greatly aggravated his injury. Donatello had stitched it up well, but now the wound was reopening, and blood leaked out of Splinter's side. Shredder took full advantage of this gift.

Jumping down to a lower platform, he and Splinter were now balancing upon a metal mesh that hung right above Stockman's mutagen tanks. The eerie, green glowing ooze seemed to mock the two masters who danced above, waiting for one to fall in to its transformative pit.

"Ugh!" grunted Splinter, as Shredder kicked him down in the side.

His right hand covered over his wound, painting it red with blood.

"It is over Hamato" said Shredder as he approached with blades "Your family has lost, your son and daughter now belong to me, and you are too weak to stand. Tonight, you shall finally die."

With that said, Shredder raised up his blade to strike when suddenly the whole platform shuddered, set off by a hard smack of a flying mace that Slash had so graciously thrown.

The sudden vibration forced Shredder off balance, and Master Splinter quickly took advantage, striking another blow. Throwing out his right hand Splinter palmed his opponent's armor-plated chest, staining it with blood, as Shredder fell back and plummeted over the edge of the mesh, falling into the waiting ooze below.

Cries of pain immediately erupted from Shredder's throat when he sank, and his whole body began to twist and change.

Although aware that this was a sight to watch, Splinter did not intend to stick around to see just what mutant Shredder would be. Leaping down to the ground, the old rat quickly glared at Michaelanglo and Slash.

"Come, let's go!" said Splinter, dashing away into the hall.

Mikey and Slash quickly followed, the larger turtle grabbing Raphael before he ran.

The mutant trio made it out with no resistance, running back to the sewer lair, where their friends waited eagerly for their return.

* * *

A few minutes later, a weary Bebop and Rocksteady met back up at Stockman's lab, tired from their previous fight. Both mutants were very sore and desperate for a good rest, but soon the shock at seeing the state of the lab snapped them back awake.

"What happened here?" asked Rocksteady, looking around at the destruction.

"Looks like Fly-Boy had a wrecking crew in his pad," said Bebop.

"Yes" said Rocksteady " something has gone wrong."

"Wait!" said Bebop, sniffing around with his piggy nose " something is here."

With that said, Bebop lead the way over to bottom floor of Stockman's lab, where the mutant fly's mutagen solutions could be safely drain until they were reused. Zak and Steranko had landed there when they were both forced through their mutations. Now something else lay at the bottom of the pit; something hideous and scary.

"What is this?" asked Bebop, looking at the eerie creature with shock.

But Steranko would notice this mutant in any form, just by gazing at the blades.

"Shredder,"


	17. Chapter 17: Evil Doesn't Sleep

**Ch.17: Evil Doesn't Sleep**

Meanwhile, at the water plant, after taking out a few goons who were still guarding the place, making sure the serum kept flowing, Muckman and Jason stepped inside to see how they could end this toxic nightmare.

Muckman practically glared when he saw the red liquid running through the pipes. Why would anyone ever drink that?

"Guess after an alien invasion anything is possible," Muckman thought.

"Man" said Jason, stunned by the sight " this is way worse than I thought."

"Ditto kid" Muckman agreed "Yo Eyeball, have any ideas on how we can clear this junk?"

"Well" responded the independent eye " I guess you could try your powers on it,"

"But they're all garbage!" said Muckman " It will only make the water worse."

"You used to be a garbage man" said Jo Eyeball " clean it up!"

"Okay, I'll try," said Muckman.

And with that said, the mutant stuck his filthy hand into the water, focusing on clearing the serum out. At first, it didn't seem to be working, and then slowly, bit by bit, the red ooze in the water began to clear, leaving no trace of it behind.

"You did it!" said Jason, pumping his scaly fist into the air " Mondo cool bro!"

"Heh" said Muckman with relief before turning towards his mutant friend " your pretty mondo yourself gecko."

"Hey I like that!" said Jason, beaming with joy " Mondo Gecko! Totally rad dudes!"

And with that said, the young lizard smiled, accepting his new name with pride.

* * *

However, at that moment, while happiness could be felt in the air for Mondo Gecko, down in the sewers, worry gripped the atmosphere as Donatello ran back and forth from his lab to check the status of Leo's condition.

After barely being able to do anything back at Shredder's place, having a serious limit on both resources and time, Donatello, along with the others, quickly prepped Leo up for transportation back to the lair. Don only hoped that Casey had found the Party Wagon in that time.

Luckily, the vigilante did, and they were able to speed out to the lair fast.

Now, with Karai's and Rockwell's help, Donnie quickly created an anti-venom and injected into Leo without delay, praying it would work.

A few tense moments passed as Leo still struggled to breathe, but soon his breathing calmed, and the heart rate monitor grew a steady tone.

At once, the whole room let out a big sigh of relief. Leo was going to be alright.

Leatherhead smiled at the glad faces of his friends, but quickly frowned at the thought of that moment, when they left Slash behind.

They were heading towards the Party Wagon when Leatherhead suddenly turned, seeing Slash had stopped.

"What are you doing?" the gator asked.

"I have to go back" said Slash " Raphael is still here. It's my fault he got into this mess, and I'm going to make sure he gets out."

With that said, Slash turned around, and ran down the way he had just come with the others.

"Go help them Leatherhead! Don't worry about me!"

"And I won't worry," thought Leatherhead, as the flashback drifted out of his mind.

Slash was his leader, and one of the noblest creatures Leatherhead had met during New York's dark times. There was no doubt in the reptile's mind that his friend would succeed.

* * *

"Are you okay Master Splinter?" asked Mikey, as he and his group were only a few steps away from the lair.

"I am fine my son," said Splinter, comforting the new bandage wrapped around his side.

They had all stopped for a moment to rewrap Splinter's wound, before any more blood could fall to the street. The old towel Slash had found may not be very practical for a bandage, but it would have to do until they reached the lair.

A few minutes later, the trio arrived, with an unconscious Raphael in tow. Cheers greeted them as they came in, which quickly settled down into serious tones as Don observed their current state.

"Sensei, your wound…," Donatello started before Splinter interrupted.

"It will be fine" said Splinter " but now you must help your brother. Go."

Nodding that he understood, Don quickly had Slash bring Raphael into his lab, and set him on a bed next to Leo, so he could check his mind. Mikey followed after them, and quietly observed. A frown set upon Donatello's face.

"His brainwave patterns are chaotic" said Don " Whatever Shredder did, he's almost in shock. He'll die if he keeps fighting the serum's control."

"Then we have to get it out fast!" said Slash, pounding his fists.

"One problem" said Don " it seems like Shredder added a second agent to make his hold over Raph more permanent. For some reason or another, Shredder's first serum began to fail, and this second one is nearly taking all the will power Raph has left."

At that comment, Mikey shivered. He had seen Raph as he had gone through that second injection. It was not a pleasant sight.

All the while, Raph's brainwave patterns became more erratic. After all the trouble they had went through to save him, was it possible that the hot-tempered turtle could die this night?

* * *

Meanwhile, in what seemed like an unreal realm, Leonardo's consciousness woke up to the sight of white nothingness all around him.

"Where am I?" the turtle thought, checking his all his limbs to make sure he was still whole.

His body felt okay, but how could it move with all the poison? Then it hit him, that this wasn't his real form.

"I'm in the astral plane" said Leo " the world of the mind."

"Cool," the turtle thought to himself.

He had often dreamed of reaching this place when he practiced meditation with Splinter. Now, on the edge of death, he could see it first hand. Not the way he would have chosen to get a prime-time ticket, but whatever way it worked.

In this world, numerous new sensations became obvious to him. It was like his senses were heightened, able to do things they had never done before.

He could feel the cool air flowing in Donnie's lab, and hear the voices of his concerned brothers blend in with the heart monitor's steady beat. It was good to hear that they were all okay, but the tone in Donnie's voice indicated that not everything was well.

Leo himself might be getting better, but Raphael was still trapped in Shredder's control, and it sounded like he might lose more than his mind.

"That's not going to happen," said Leo to himself, and quickly sat down to focus his mind.

Crossing his legs, Leonardo closed his eyes, searching out for the disturbed energy of his red-masked brother.

Even though meditation was mainly used to escape from reality, it could be used to touch others as well. Leo only prayed that he could pull it off.

Moments later, he succeeded, and almost found himself backing away from the shock.

Darkness, pure darkness, enshrouded all of Raphael's mind, smothering out the small flame of resistance that was still trying hard to burn. Leo chose to give strength to that flame, and pushed all of the energy he could through the dark.

Outside, in the lab, an excited gulp escaped from Mikey, making Don turn amazed to read the brainwave patterns on Raphael. They were returning to their normal state. The serum had been flushed out of his system. It was gone!

"But how?" the genius wondered.

At that moment, if he had just looked over to the lab table on his left, he would have seen the recovering Leonardo finally open up his eyes, a smirk growing on the blue-masked turtle's face for a job well done.

* * *

Meanwhile, at an eerie, dark government base, Agent Bishop was calmly strolling down the grey-colored halls, listening in on all the yelling that screamed from the cells as he passed by.

"Let them scream" Bishop thought to himself " it won't save them from what is to come."

Suddenly, a call came in on Bishop's high-tech watch.

"The equipment is ready Sir," spoke a voice.

"Good" said Bishop " then proceed."


	18. Chapter 18: Brothers of the Dark

**Ch.18: Brothers of the Dark**

"Yawn, thank you Casey," said Angel, as she settled down comfortably between the covers of her bed.

"Anytime Sis" said Casey, smiling down at his sister " rest easy okay."

Angel nodded and slipped her eyes closed, drifting off into sleep. Casey stayed for just a few seconds more before lifting himself from the bed, and exiting out the door, making sure it closed softly behind him.

Once that was done, Casey sighed, wandering down the hall, his mind chaotic with thoughts on everything that had happened to him tonight.

Instinctively, the young vigilante's hand reached for the pocket where his T-Phone lay, but Casey stopped himself before he could grab it. It was hard to fight the urge to call Don and find out how everyone was doing.

Casey had to leave soon after they returned back at the lair to drop Angel off back home. Leo was sick, and Slash had disappeared to find Raph. Casey hoped that both were alright.

"If anything happened Donnie would call," Casey reassured himself, and focused in on the new issue he had learned from Angel only moments before. That his old friend Nick was now a member of the Purple Dragons.

The sheer thought of the treason made Casey's blood boil with rage. He and Nick may have not spoken in years, but Casey still couldn't believe that the hatred held against him had turned Nick into this. Now he was just another punk to be taken down with the rest.

"I guess there a darker side to Nick" thought Casey to himself " one I never knew."

* * *

Darkness, everywhere Raph turned around that's all he could see…darkness. He sat there, trembling, inside of a dark sphere, his flame of resistance dwindling the more he struggled to break free.

It was hopeless now. Evil had won. He was completely under Shredder's command.

And then, all of a sudden, Raphael felt a surge of energy push through him, urging him to fight on. Where was this feeling coming from? Who cared enough to save him from the dark?

The darkness growled, angry that some intruder was coming to free the soul it had trapped within. There was a crash as something shattered, and the whole orb fell as someone burst into the dark.

"Leo?" asked Raph, looking up at the figure, confused.

The blue-masked turtle smiled as he descended to help his brother, his arm out-stretched, signaling for Raph to take his hand.

Not knowing how to feel, Raphael reached out to take it when something dark suddenly slammed into Leo's side, making the blue-masked turtle fly away. Enraged, Leo immediately turned to glare at whoever had pushed him away from Raphael, his eyes widening in surprise once he finally glimpsed his attacker.

There was no way. This couldn't be real! But the opponent he was facing was Raph himself.

"Ha, you're to late Leonardo" said Dark Raph, floating above his lighter counterpart " Raph has finally descended down into the dark. There's no chance he'll ever return to the light."

"You're wrong!" Leo called out to Dark Raph "I'm taking him back, and there's no way you can stop me."

"We'll see about that," grinned Dark Raph, twirling out his sais. And with that, he charged towards Leo to fight.

Fiercely, sais and swords clashed as Leo and Dark Raph engaged in battle. Leo's eyes glared in hatred at the dark version of his brother. Nothing but pure evil could be found gleaming in Dark Raph's eyes. An evil that Leo had briefly glimpsed the moment Raphael first started his anger problems in the past.

Deep inside the leader's heart, Leonardo feared that one day that darkness would try to tear free from Raph and take over his mind. His fear was happening now, and Leo was determined by all means to stop it!

Surprising Dark Raph with a hard kick to the chest as he blocked another blade strike, Leonardo sent the dark turtle flying away, before diving down for Raph, who still hadn't moved from his position on the ground.

"Raph come on" said Leo, putting a strong hand on his brother's shoulder " let's go home."

Raphael just nodded at Leo and allowed the blue-masked turtle to carry him up towards the hole in the sphere. The light waiting beyond it was warm and inviting, alive with happier memories for remember and embrace.

The fire that Leo had charged with his spirit earlier flared brighter the closer he dragged Raphael to that hole. Freedom was only a few inches ahead, and then, suddenly, a heavy weight whirled itself around Raphael's leg, dragging both him and Leo down.

Leo instantly glared down to see Dark Raph, smirking an evil smile as he tugged manriki chains binding his light side's foot. His strength was amazingly strong. An more tugs, and Leo would be right back where he started, freeing Raphael's soul from the dark.

"No matter what you do" yelled Dark Raph to Leo " you'll never save him from me! The light shall die again, and I will be in charge!"

"Never!" said Leo, and sliced the chain with katana blades.

"Grrr!" growled Dark Raph, falling back as Leo and light part disappeared. "Hahaha…you'll see Leo. You'll see."

Those were the last memories Leo felt from the astral plane, as his body finally overcame the poison and he was allowed to join his brothers in the waking world once more.

With a sigh, the blue-masked turtle reopened his eyes to what was the living space of the lair. He had only entered this room a few moments ago, and observed as his family acted out tasks that seemed long overdue.

Donatello was now outside of his lab, helping Mikey fix up the TV, while Karai and Splinter sat near each other, reforming a long lost father-daughter bond.

In the middle of all this chaos, it was good to see the family together again. However, not everyone was present in the living room right now.

Shifting his dark blue eyes over to the sealed doors of Donnie's lab, Leo breathed out his worry with a sigh, wondering how the two occupants were doing in that room. Slash was left in there with Raphael, alone, to help the red-masked turtle go through his fears of serving the dark.

* * *

The silence inside the lab was eerie, as Slash and Raph sat a fair distance from each other, speechless as their minds.

Slash looked upon his former owner in guilt, wondering what he should say. Not long after Raph had awakened, and grew frustrated at the harm he had done, Slash asked for his team to go back to the Underground, so he could talk to Raph alone. Leo and the others were also dismissed, and now there were only two of them in the lab.

Shredder's gauntlets were now off of Raphael's hands, placed over to the side. Slash glared at those weapons, uttering a growl. Those gauntlets served nothing more as a terrible reminder at what happened at Shredder's lair. Raphael could barely glance at them, his eyes empty with rage and guilt.

Slash felt the same way Raphael did, but tried to calm himself, so he could in turn calm Raph.

"Just like in the past," thought Slash, but of course then he couldn't speak.

"It's not your fault you know," Slash finally said to Raphael.

"Heh" said Raph weakly " sure seems like it. I still can't believe…Ugh! How are the guys going to forgive me for this?!"

"The same way you forgave me," said Slash, making Raphael look at him stunned.

"Raphael" continued Slash softly " do you remember the day I changed?"

Raph nodded. How could he forget? It had been one of the worst days of his life. His beloved pet turtle, which he had confided all his personal secrets too, mutated into a raging beast, trying to wipe his brothers off the map.

Things had been so miserable on that day, but at least now Slash was no longer kill crazy and fighting on their side. Raphael was glad to have his old friend back again, even if he was no longer in pet turtle form.

"I caused so much pain on that day, but you forgave me in the end" said Slash " your brothers will too. We both did things we regret Raphael, but we can't them hold us down."

Raphael just stayed silent, and looked over at the gauntlets by his side. These machines of death, could he ever…

The puzzling thought was interrupted as soon as Donatello opened up the doors to the lab. The purple-masked turtle gazed at Raph and Slash, a worried expression on his face.

"You guys got to come to the living room, now!" said Don.

Wondering what was up, Raph and Slash followed Donnie into the living area, where the TV was now fixed and displaying the news. However, the current report running across the screen was very unnerving.

"Citizens arrest?" questioned Carlos Chang O'Brian, the black news man " This was the scene earlier tonight as a government agency arrested several New Yorkers for going crazy in Times Square and praising someone called the Shredder. Agent Bishop has refused to report what will happen to these citizens, or whether their condition will be cured."

At that moment, the video of the arrest, playing beside the reporter paused, and the turtles gasped as they saw two familiar faces among the crowd; Kirby and April O'Neil, being pushed right towards Bishop's truck.


	19. Chapter 19: Goverment Secrets

**Ch.19: Government Secrets**

"April? Kirby?" said Mikey stunned, as he watched the action take place on screen.

"I don't believe it" said Leo, just as stunned " where is he taking them?"

"Not sure" said Don, lowering his head in thought " Rahzar told us that the serum had been spread to the public as well. The government must be taking those infected back to their base so they can find out what's wrong."

"Makes sense" said Raph " although I don't like that look on Agent Bishop's face. Something else is going on."

"We can worry about that another time" said Leo " right now, the important thing is to find out where Bishop has taken these people, and cure them first before any harm can be done."

"Right" said Don, walking towards his lab " I'll start doing some research then."

Once the purple-masked turtle had left, Mikey gazed over at his leader.

"Not I don't like the plan and all, but how are we supposed to cure them?" asked Mikey " It wasn't exactly easy the first dozen times we tried."

"No kidding" said Slash " but it was Rockwell's mind blast that did it for me."

"Me too," said Karai, sitting next to Splinter.

"Come to think of it" said Raph " we were pretty much all freed through someone else's mind."

"Well if that's the case" said Leo " Rockwell should come join us. His powers will prove useful for the fight ahead."

Slash nodded in agreement.

"I'll go make the call," he said.

A few seconds after the large turtle had walked away, Splinter struggled up to stand on his feet, rising from the bench he had been confined to since he got home. Karai rose up with him, supporting Splinter as he stood. The giant rat flashed a grateful smile in her direction.

It was an awkward reunion once Splinter saw that Karai had also escaped from Shredder's lair. The female ninja's face was sad with guilt for all the trouble she had caused. If only she hadn't run away to get revenge, her transformation into a snake would have never occurred, and the whole mind control scheme from Shredder might not be born.

Splinter didn't blame Karai in any event though. To find out the truth after sixteen years of lies was a hard burden for anyone to bear. She wasn't prepared to face it, and thus had to travel a difficult path alone.

Even now that he had her back, in half human and mutant form, Splinter would tread gently in his efforts to make her stay. The long awaited father-daughter bond would take time to grow, but Splinter would take care to plant the seeds.

"Sensei?" asked Leo, once his master fully stood up.

"After a battle" said Splinter " it is usually wise to rest until another storm comes, but sometimes rest is an impossible option and you must fight your way through. Although I would prefer you four not to leave so soon April and Kirby must be saved. Be careful my sons, and come back to me, alive."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Underground where the mutants lived, Leatherhead was trying his best to lead in the absence of Slash, and make sure all his fellow mutants were treated equal and fair.

There had been a small amount of tension once Leatherhead and the others had finally returned. Some of the mutants were displeased that Mighty Mutanimals team had been gone so long, dealing with crisis of Shredder's plot. Spiderbytes and Snakeweed were especially testy, and glared at Leatherhead as the croc handed out food.

The mutant reptile didn't blame them a bit for feeling abandoned, but sometimes a crisis was just so big it could take days just to retain control. Shredder's mind control had to be stopped, and Slash and Rockwell had to be saved.

The familiar ring of the T-Phone soon caught Leatherhead's ear, and the mutant croc turned to see Dr. Rockwell pick up his cell.

While putting a stop to the Kraang invasion some time ago, Donatello had crafted up T-Phone's for all the Mutanimal's to use, although it was normally Slash and Rockwell that answered all the calls.

"Who's calling now?" thought Leatherhead, watching as Rockwell talked.

The look on the mutant chimp's face faded to a frown, and he turned to glance at Leatherhead as he hung up.

"That was Slash" said Rockwell " the government has taken some New Yorkers, and he wants me to come right away and help."

"What about us?" asked Leatherhead.

"Rest here and keep an eye on things" said Rockwell " no need for us both to go rushing back into battle,"

"Fine," said Leatherhead, and Rockwell quickly left.

Once the monkey was out of sight, Leatherhead turned back to his tasks, when suddenly a very hateful scent entered his nose. Immediately, the giant lizard's eyes clouded with rage as he growled.

That scent! That hated smell! The Newtralizer was close!

* * *

Moments later, the turtles, Slash, and Rockwell were flying across the rooftops tracing down the info Donnie had managed to gather about Agent Bishop. It had been a tough piece of work hacking through the government's many firewalls, but after a few minor errors, the purple-masked turtle was able to cheer as he finally broke in.

And although his hacking had been disturbed mid-process, probably from someone noticing on the other side, the information he had managed to gleam would prove useful. Soon April and all of the New York citizens would be out of that base for good.

"Hold on April" said Don to himself " I'm coming for ya."

* * *

Meanwhile, over at Bishop's base, the stern man's glared at the subjects on the lab tables, as Dr. Chaplin continued to poke and prod, searching for an answer to their 'illness'. So far in the attempts of trial and error, there were a few 'accidents' that couldn't be avoided.

Regrettably, Bishop realized that after this whole process was complete, he would have to explain to some families that their loved ones simply weren't coming home, but it wasn't if he hadn't done that before. In fact, delivering the news of death barely bothered him anymore.

"Amazing" said Dr. Chaplin, breaking Bishop out of his thoughts " the anomalies in their blood are an exact to the stuff found in the city water. It looks like it's designed to alter their brainwaves so they will obey whoever uses it."

"Mind control" Bishop stated, his worst fears confirmed " can you cure it doctor?"

"I can try," said Chaplin, and then Striker came in.

"Forces checked out the water plant Sir" said Striker to Bishop " the water's been purified. It was like that when we got there. Someone has cleaned up all the serum from out of the drains."

"Who?" asked Bishop, curious.

"Don't know" said Striker " but I did pick up the faint scent of garbage."

Bishop bent his head down at Striker's report. He had a pretty good idea of who it was.

"That's not all Sir" said Striker " Staff reports that a hacker hacked his way into the system and stole some of our files. I think there is an intruder heading towards our base."

At this news, Bishop's eyes narrowed in anger.

"If that's the case we'll greet them warmly" said Bishop " Get a squad of troop in order now! And Chaplin…prep up that redhead for another shot at the cure. This madness ends, tonight."


	20. Chapter 20: The Eyes of Evil

**Ch.20: The Eyes of Evil**

Silence gripped the night as the moon's eerie, full glow shined down on very decrepit section of New York, long forgotten by the citizens who lived to build themselves higher through modern times. However, the government had not forgotten this place, and fashioned the old ruins into a fortress, where they could conduct their secret activities freely, without fear of the public eye.

"Wow," Leo thought, as he and the others looked down, watching the guards patrol the base perimeters.

How had he and his brothers missed this during their nightly patrols? True, they had never actually gone this far, but still, there should have at least been some clue to what was going on here.

"This is nuts!" said Mikey, finally breaking the tense silence " April and Kirby are really in there?"

"If reports are true then yes," said Don.

"What's the plan Leo?" asked Raph.

"Stealth mode" said Leo " we break in and free the New Yorkers, and hopefully cure them at the same time."

With that said, Leo and the rest jumped down into the shadows, starting their approach.

* * *

Heavy footsteps crunched against the ground as two guards patrolled the eastern wall of the perimeter. Automatic weapons held tightly in hand, they were prepared to face any threat that dared breech the barricade. However, all of their military training could hardly prepare them for what was to come.

A sudden, sharp brush sounded from beyond the fence, making both men turn, pointing their guns. Focused in on the darkness, the men were ready to fire in case something moved. Little did they know that the real enemy was sneaking in behind them.

Levitating stealthily behind the two guards, Dr. Rockwell quickly shot at both men with a mind blast, knocking them out to the ground.

Once that small threat to their entry had been dealt with, Slash and the Turtles quickly emerged from their hiding place, and Slash sliced out a hole in the fence with his mace.

Security alarms activated as the fence was clearly rigged to sound whenever an entry hole had been cut. Acting quickly, Donatello quickly sprinted to the head of the grew, and unhooked a lock leading into one of the dome-shaped buildings in the area. With little time to think, he and the others sprinted inside.

"Ugh!" said Slash, blocking the door with a heavy piece of metal once they were in. " That should keep them out."

"Alright" said Leo, taking a deep breath " now let's go find…,"

Click! The sounds of the snapping of weapons stopped him cold.

Several hallways branched off inside the main area of the dome, each no doubt leading to a different part of this base. The hall on the right side of the turtles was suddenly filled with men, each with their weapons loaded and ready to kill. Striker stood among them.

"Ah, what do we have here?" said Striker with a grin " This is government ground boys, and I don't believe you were invited."

With that said, the permission to shoot was granted, and the turtles ran, bullets chasing after their shells. Slash and Rockwell took one hallway, while the turtles divided and took the others.

It was a race to survive, and they hoped they all would live.

* * *

Down the hall where Slash and Rockwell ran, the two mutants were doing everything they could to keep ahead of the soldiers firing behind them. Sprinting fast to avoid the gunfire, it wasn't long before both of the Mutanimals reached a turn in the hall, leading to another section of the base.

Rather not have their pursuers following them, Rockwell finally turned to use his mind control powers, and ripped the guns from the soldiers' hands. The muzzles of their weapons now pointed directly at them, the soldiers screamed and turned to run, fleeing back in the direction that they came.

Dropping his stolen arsenal, Rockwell turned to join Slash in the next, and gaped next to his stunned leader's side.

Whichever room they had entered clearly functioned as a prison chamber, lined throughout with cells that held screaming New Yorkers hostage. It only took a short glance to confirm that these were the mind-controlled pawns Bishop captured on TV.

"I have to get into the minds of all them" thought Rockwell " but how am I going to do that?"

"Come on Doc" said Slash, shattering the chimp's doubt " we have work to do."

* * *

Meanwhile, down with Leo, Don, and Mikey, the three turtles, after a few hair-raising moments of being pursued, had finally managed to lose track of soldiers as they dived towards the laboratory of the base.

"Oh man" said Mikey, once they finally got a chance to rest " I think we lost Raph and the Mutanimals somewhere back there."

"We'll have to look for them later" said Leo " Donnie, can you tell us where we are?"

"Looks like a laboratory of some kind" said Don " quite large too, considering all these tables around us."

"Yeah" said Leo " but there seems to be no scientists minding the equipment,"

"They're probably nearby" said Don " let's look around."

With that said, the three turtles pushed forward, looking for evidence that anyone else was in the lab. While walking, Mikey was curious to what could be under the sheets on nearly every table they passed. What secret was this agency hiding?

Wanting to find out, Mikey secretly crept to one of the covered tables while his brothers weren't looking, and peeked underneath the sheet. As soon as the orange-masked turtle glimpsed what was under there though, he backed up quickly, and gasped loud with shock.

"Mikey what is it?" asked Leo, he and Don having heard their brother's gasp.

Mikey just stuttered and pointed towards the table.

"There's a dead person on that!"

Stunned by their youngest brother's words, Leo and Don quickly went to take their own look at the table, and gagged, stumbling back once they had seen the body. Both turtles faces were disgusted, and worry immediately started to flow through Donnie's mind.

Looking at the other covered tables in the room, Donnie wondered if each one of them held a dead body too. The dead bodies of those poor souls Bishop had taken in order to get rid of the mind control virus.

"April!" Don immediately thought, alarmed, and dashed off leaving his stunned brothers to follow.

All the while, one thought was pressing continuously through Donatello's mind. April was not going to die!

"I won't let her die!"

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the lower levels of the base, General Striker was walking calmly down the sleek surface of the halls, in hunt for his prey. The deeply tanned man barely glimpsed at the unconscious forms of his soldiers as he passed them by, taken out by the thing they had attempted to pursue.

A ghost of a smile appeared on the general's face, as adrenaline rushed through his veins from the thrill. This creature he was hunting was clever, but foolish not realize that soon the chase would end. And when that moment came, then would come the excitement of the kill.

* * *

"Ah great!" said Raphael, as he arrived in the basement, which dead-ended at a brick wall "The old turtle luck running true to form!"

There was no more room to run, he couldn't escape any further, and there still that head whackbag out there with an urge to shoot him down. Somehow he managed to take down the guy's cronies, but the head always stayed a few paces behind, far out of Raph's reach.

Even now, Raphael could hear the sounds of the man's heavy boot steps as he traveled further down the hall, closer to where Raphael stood. It looked like this was going to be the end, and Raphael turned, ready to face the threat with his sai.

Another boot step, Raphael backed up, his shell touching the wall. Suddenly, something surprising happened, as another brick wall quickly shot out in front of Raphael, blocking him from Striker's sight.

The red-masked turtle now stood confused as he was trapped in a room with bricks at all sides, without there seeming to be an exit out. Panic started to surge through Raphael's veins, until a sliding sound caught his ear.

Turning to his left, Raphael blinked in surprise as that brick wall suddenly slipped away to reveal the entrance to another room. Curious, Raphael slowly stepped through this new door, and gasped at what he saw; an underground lab that looked like straight out of a sci-fi movie, with stairs leading back up into the base, and other stuff that Raph couldn't even begin to describe.

"Where am I?" Raph thought outloud.

"Exactly where you shouldn't be," answered a voice, making Raphael turn.

And there he stood, face to face with Agent Bishop, an evil gleam glowing in the man's eyes.


	21. Chapter 21: Pawns In A Bishop's Game

**Ch.21: Pawns In A Bishop's Game**

Dr. Chaplin sighed as he poured over his notes again, frustration playing in his eyes. The calculations for his cure still didn't seem to make any sense!

Identifying the compounds inside the mind control serum had been simple, but mixing together the right agents to reverse the effects was a challenging task. Those poor souls he had tested his previous formulas on, may they forever rest in peace.

Dr. Chaplin prayed that he would have better luck with the young girl he was expected to treat right now. She was tall and slim with bright red hair, and seemed to be sixteen years old given her current growth stage. A quick search on her cellphone clarified her name as April, just starting to bloom in the prime of her life.

Now, it would probably end with just a simple injection of Chaplin's cure.

Picking up another needle, Dr. Chaplin filled it up with his cure serum, and poised the tip over April's right arm. Bit by bit, the needle slowly lowered to her skin, but, right before it could pierce the flesh, a miracle came stopping Chaplin before he could use the cure, and it came in with blazing fury.

Before the doctor even realized what happened, he was tackled hard against the wall by an angry, purple-masked turtle, pressing his bo staff hard against his own neck. Darkness came to the doctor's eyes immediately, and Chaplin felt himself feel woozy when he was allowed to collapse on the floor.

Through pained eyes, Chaplin saw three inhuman figures standing around the table where the girl laid, talking in worried tones about her state.

From the way that his brain was throbbing from the wall hit, not a word could be understood, but gradually his eyes seemed to discern what his unnatural guests truly were.

"Turtles?" thought Chaplin in his mind, as he passed out into the dark.

Without a glance back at the unconscious scientist, the three turtles grabbed April and sprinted out of the lab, hoping to escape and find the rest of their friends in time.

* * *

Meanwhile, down where the prison cells were. Dr. Rockwell and Slash had almost finished curing and stashing the infected New Yorkers into a truck that Slash had managed to purloin from a lot outside.

"Got 'em all Doc?" asked Slash, as he came in from another run.

"Almost" said Rockwell, looking towards his friend " just a few more and we can…,"

Before the chimp could complete his sentence, Slash's T-Phone began to ring, and the large turtle picked it up to here Leonardo's voice on the other end of the line.

"Oh Slash" Leonardo sounded relieved " where are you guys? Is Raph with you?"

"No" Slash responded over the phone " Me and doc are in some kind of prison cell. We found the New Yorkers, and we're getting them out of here. You mean Raph is not with you?"

"No" said Leo, as he ran " we managed to save April but we can't find him, and we're running out of time to get out."

"He's right" said Rockwell to Slash " I can sense more troops incoming. They'll be on us in moments."

"Grr!" growled Slash in frustration.

Despite the fact he wanted to search for his former owner, the Mutanimal leader realized that if they didn't escape soon, the government was going to cage them faster than the Kraang had ever done.

"Slash?" said Rockwell to the turtle, looking at his leader's face with concern.

A huge, deep breath later, Slash spoke once again to Leonardo.

" Raph can find a way out on his own" said Slash " hurry up and meet us outside in ten minutes. We'll be waiting at the gate."

"Alright, see you there," said Leo, hanging up his end of the phone.

"We're really going to leave Raph here?" said Mikey unbelieving at his blue-masked brother.

"There's no choice," said Leo, hardly looking at Mikey's eyes.

But deep inside his heart, Leo knew both him and Slash were thinking the same thing. Would Raph really be okay.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the secret lab, Raphael stood glaring hard at Agent Bishop, fingers tightening around his sais and ready to spring. The government agent just stood staring back at him coolly, evil smirk still on his face.

Frustrated by the tension, Raphael finally decided to break the silence.

"Nice place you got Bishop" said Raph, waving one sai at the lab " been taking some hints from the Kraang?"

"Oh, I assure you Raphael" Bishop responded, walking up to the turtle " the Kraang only hold a minor part in my research. However, I never expected to see another one my 'interests' enter my lab one day."

"What do you mean by 'interest'?" asked Raph " and how did you know my name?"

"I know everything about you Raphael" said Bishop, pausing beside a large tube " Your family and your Mutanimal friends are up above us aren't they? All as powerful as my informant said you were."

"Informant?!" thought Raphael shocked " Who's this guy's informant? What did he tell about us?"

"Ah, I see you are confused" said Bishop, stepping closer, admiring Raph's shock " It's quite an interesting story I can tell you, but unfortunately, you won't be leaving here alive."

With that said, Bishop quickly charged in to attack, and Raphael thrust out with his sais. The blades missed as Bishop jumped over Raphael, flipping in the air, and then landed behind the turtle's back, placing a hard kick to his shell.

Growling in anger, Raphael turned to throw a punch at Bishop, but the agent quickly dodged, weaving himself among the maze of alien machinery as Raph continued his assault. Suddenly, after dodging another thrust, Bishop seemed to have disappeared, leaving Raphael standing alone amongst a cage of tubes.

Inside of each tube, a watery liquid floated containing an alien creature inside. By the dark forms, it was hard to make some of these creatures out, but one almost seemed to be like…a dinosaur.

Truly this was a very creepy sight for any turtle to behold, but right now, Raphael's main concern was where Bishop had went. He didn't have to wait long to receive his answer.

Suddenly jumping out of the shadows, Bishop appeared with a Kraang tazer in his hands, and shocked Raph hard in the side, before he could even turn to slice with his blades.

Yelling out in pain, Raphael fell partway to the ground, struggling to stand and fight, before Bishop kicked him the rest of the way down, and then leaned his face close to Raph's ear.

"Not bad Raphael" whispered Bishop, impressed " Perhaps there is a reason I should keep you alive. Your DNA should prove most useful for my experiments."

"Bishop" suddenly interrupted a loud voice from behind the agent " what are you doing?"

Getting up, and turning around with a grumble, Bishop sighed, looking at the last person he wanted to see.

"Kurtzman" Bishop greeted in his business tone "always dropping in at the wrong time."

"Is that Raphael?" asked the reporter, pointing towards the turtle on the ground " Bishop, what have you done?"

"Don't worry" said Bishop " he's just passed out, nothing time won't cure."

"Fine" said Kurtzman, walking up to take Raphael onto his shoulders " then I'll just take him back to his brothers. The turtles and their friends have already ruined what I came all the way here to stop. Don't forget that we're supposed to be the good guys here Bishop."

"Oh I am my friend," said Bishop, as Kurtzman walked away, carrying Raph on his shoulder. Agent Bishop's eyes locked onto the turtle's form as he vanished away from sight.

"Another time Raphael,"

Then he went back to his work.


	22. Chapter 22: Underground Rage

**Ch.22: Underground Rage**

Gunfire echoed loudly after the sounds of screeching tires, as Slash pushed the truck's pedal to the floor, slamming through the front gate, leaving torn scraps of thin metal behind him. At once, the sounds of the bullets ceased, and the large turtle allowed a big sigh of relief to escape his lips.

Finally, after a whole slew of misturns and mishaps, he and his friends had left that horrible, government facility behind for good.

Stuck back in the cargo area of the truck, Rockwell, along with three turtle brothers; Leo, Don, and Mikey, sat together with the huge load of unconscious New Yorkers, cured from the serum that had poisoned their minds. Faint groans could be heard coming from some of their mouths, it wouldn't be to long until all of these people were awake.

"We have to find some place to drop them off," said Leo.

"I hear ya" said Slash up front " We're heading back to the square."

Moments later, the truck arrived, and Slash and the others quickly got out. Donatello carried April out with him as he stepped on the ground, the poor girl still knocked out from whatever Bishop and his men had done.

"I hope April will be okay," the genius spoke out loud.

"We'll know soon Donnie" said Leo " but right now we should leave April with the rest. We don't want to stay here when all these humans wake up."

"What about Raph?" asked Mikey, more concerned about their missing brother " We still left him behind! Who knows where he is right now!"

"Doc?" questioned Slash, looking directly at his friend. If anyone could find the missing turtle, Rockwell could.

Nodding that he had understood Slash, Rockwell immediately closed his eyes and started scanning the physic waves, trying to trace the sharp ebbs of Raph's thoughts. It took a while before the Doc realized he had scored a hit, which was surprisingly a lot closer than he hoped.

"This way," said the monkey, and immediately started racing to where he had traced Raph.

Leaving April behind in the truck, Donatello instantly followed after his brothers and Slash as Rockwell led them on a twisted path through several alleys where he had sensed Raph.

In a matter of moments, the red-masked turtle was found, lying alone against a wall, eyes half-lidded with confused pain. Quickly getting into doctor mode, Don leaned down near his brother, and tried to figure out what was wrong. Soon, he had his answers.

"He's been drugged," Don said, shocked.

"What?!" asked Leo, looking at Don " Why?"

"And how did he get here?" wondered Rockwell.

"You don't think…" stumbled Mikey " they experimented on him?"

"I don't know" said Don to the others " let's just take him back to my lab to get the drug out of his system. We'll get more answers after that."

"Fine" agreed Slash " we'll check back with you as soon as we can. Just have to see how things are going in the Underground."

"Fine" said Leo " see you soon Slash."

With those words, the friends departed, and Leo bent down to help his brothers carry Raph back home. On the way there, Leo's head was buzzing with rage about all the misfortune that seemed to recently plague him and his brothers lives. Everything was totally out of control.

And little did the leader know, things were only about to get worse.

* * *

"Good," sighed Kurtzman, who was watching hidden in the comforts of his van as the mutants vanished from sight. He had made sure to keep his vehicle slightly out of sight of the alley, so the turtles and the Mutanimal's couldn't tell he was there.

The turtles were all going home now, which meant Raphael would soon be alright. A little guilt stung in Kurtzman's heart that he had to drug Raph a bit, but when the red-masked had started to wake up after being dragged out of the facility, Kurtzman couldn't risk the turtle finding out the truth. Him and his brothers weren't ready for the full story yet.

He had almost blown it by revealing that photo one time during the Kraang invasion.

"I should have looked through those slides more carefully," Kurtzman berated himself, but at least that little mess up hadn't given away his secret. Though, worriedly, Kurtzman wondered if Raph's little run in with Bishop would.

Bishop had proven to be a valuable friend and ally for many years now, giving him lots of secret intel about the Kraang and their wicked designs. He even had some knowledge about vast alien civilizations, which surprised Kurtzman when the agent had been so thorough about the subject.

"But what was he going to do to Raphael?" thought Kurtzman in his mind.

What he had seen in the lab looked like more than just stopping an intrusion.

Quickly Kurtzman filtered away the doubt in his head, refusing to believe the dark secret it promised to reveal about his friend's true nature.

Focusing his attention back on the wheel of his van, Kurtzman turned his key in the ignition and drove.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Underground, Leatherhead found himself stuck in the middle of a terrifying fight. Spiderbytes and Snakeweed had gone mad, for seemly no reason at all.

Just a few minutes after Rockwell had left, and Leatherhead scented that the Newtralizer had been somewhere near their, the two evil mutants attacked, quickly disabling Pigeon Pete and all of the other mutants left in the Mutanimals care.

Now Leatherhead stood against these two big bruisers alone, fighting to gain the upper hand in a battle he didn't intend to face.

Dodging around all of Spiderbytes acid spit, Leatherhead charged forward, snapping at the bug with his jaws. However, before those teeth could even feel the joy of ripping his flesh, the spider used the four legs on top of his head to roll out of Leatherhead's reach, and then Snakeweed appeared, offering his aid.

Throwing out his vine-like arms, Snakeweed lassoed them around Leatherhead, making the gator stop in his tracks.

"Grr!" roared Leatherhead, trying instantly to break free.

"Hurry!" Snakeweed called to Spiderbytes, and the mutant bug immediately spun out a vast array of webs to hold the croc in place.

"That should do it," said Spiderbytes, confident the gator was now secured.

"Grr, let me go!" yelled Leatherhead to Spiderbytes and Snakeweed " Why did you do this to us? We're your friends!"

"Raka, raka, raka!" laughed out a voice as the Newtralizer suddenly stepped out of the shadows. " Not yours…mine! Good to see you again Leatherhead. Now, let's talk, so I can reclaim what's mine."

At that moment, Pigeon Pete slowly began to stir, gasping as his eyes briefly caught a glimpse of Leatherhead at the mercy of Newtralizer and his pals.

"Gotta…warn…Slash," stumbled Pigeon Pete, reaching for his T-Phone, and just managed to push the help button before he passed out.


	23. Chapter 23: Old Friends, Old Hate

**Ch.23: Old Friends, Old Hate**

"You sure these guys will accept me?" asked Muckman, as he followed Mondo Gecko through the sewer system.

Minutes after they had finished detoxifying the water at the water, it looked for second as if Mondo and Muckman would part, until that is the gecko brought up a place called the Underground, run by the Mighty Mutanimals team.

Muckman was still pretty new to the mutant gig, he never heard of these Mutanimals before. He knew about the turtles, and some others, but apparently there was still a lot more freaks for him to meet. Who would ever guess fifteen years that New York would become a place for some kind of mutant playground?

Ah whatever, at least this Underground Mondo was taking him to sounded better than sleeping in alley's filled with garbage.

"Sure they will dude" said Mondo Gecko, looking towards his friend " They're totally cool. Hang on, just one more corner and we're…What the heck?"

"What's wrong?" asked Muckman, gazing in Mondo's direction. It didn't take to long for the garbage mutant to find the source of his friend's shock.

There, just a few paces beyond the back door that led to the Underground, both Mondo and Muckman could witness a very shocking sight.

Alongside one wall of the room, about six young mutants lay piled up unconscious and bruised. Clearly they had suffered a very severe beating from whoever caught them by surprise.

Closer to the center of the room, was a roaring reptile wrapped up in some kind of thread. A mutant spider and plant-like creature stood evilly smirking off to the sides, while a fire-bellied newt, clearly the leader of these two bad boys, glared down at the crocodile with malice in gaze.

"Oh man" said Mondo Gecko "The Newtralizer! He's back!"

"The who?" asked Muckman, wondering what the heck was going on.

"Long story" Mondo told Muckman " Just know that he's a major creep. The Mutanimals booted him out long ago. I can't imagine why he's back."

"Well whatever its for" said Muckman " it sure doesn't look like a happy reunion. So what do you say we go in there and even the odds?"

* * *

"I grow impatient with you Leatherhead" said Newtralizer, glaring down at the croc " I ask you one more time, where did you and Slash hide the device?"

"I'll never tell you anything" growled Leatherhead " and you won't get Slash to talk."

"Maybe" said Newtralizer " but I when he sees what happened to his precious second-in-command he'll be more willing to speak."

With that said, the Newtralizer activated the laser shooters on his gauntlets, aiming right for the center of Leatherhead's face, when all of the sudden, the tense silence was broken out by a rebel yell.

"Cowabunga!" screamed Mondo Gecko, skating in.

Shock consumed the entire air, as the three villains looked on with confusion at this strange, little mutant who had come to put a stop to the Newtralizer's execution plans. Showing off his best moves, Mondo continued skating around, doing tricks, keeping the mutants distracted while Muckman prepared to make his move.

Fortunately, in the sewers, there was plenty of garbage around at the mutant's disposal. Calling on his unusual powers, Muckman launched all the trash at the three mutants with blazing fury, being careful not to hit his own little friend who was skating away.

In an instant, Spiderbytes, Snakeweed, and Newtralizer were knocked down, even more confused by what had occurred.

"Let me get you out of there bro," said Mondo, instantly working on Leatherhead's binds.

Bit by bit, the threads of the spider web loosened, but the process was slow, and the evil mutants started to stir. Spiderbytes got up first, and Muckman immediately stepped in to guard Mondo as he tried to cut Leatherhead free.

"You want to roll punk" said Muckman to the spider " fine with me."

Instantly the two mutants clashed, acid spit versus toxic sludge. Both weren't stupid enough to get hit by either one's attack, but Spiderbytes extra agility made him an extremely hard target to hit. If the fight continued at this pace, Muckman knew that he likely wasn't going to win.

Things got even worse as Snakeweed started to recover. Seeing Spiderbytes busy with his own battle, he locked his gaze towards Mondo, who was only a few strings away from setting Leatherhead free.

"Ah!" cried Mondo in pain, as Snakeweed grabbed in his claw-like weeds.

"Mondo!" cried Muckman, looking towards his friend with worry, leaving himself open to an acid strike by Spiderbytes.

As the acid hit his former excuse for skin, Muckman yelled out in pain, and collapsed on the floor, dissolving into a pile of smoking sludge.

At this point, Leatherhead had had enough of these games, and broke out of what remained of his prison, releasing a loud roar filled with unholy rage. The Newtralizer was back on his feet by now, and glanced at the reptile, smiling in mock amusement.

"Don't be a fool" said Newtralizer " you couldn't beat in the past, and you can't now. Not without your friends to aid you."

"Then looks like we got here just in time!" shouted out a voice, startling the mutants.

In a flash, Rockwell appeared in the room, shooting out mind blasts to disorient Snakeweed and Spiderbytes, instantly causing them to drop down to their knees in pain. Snakweed lost his hold around Mondo Gecko's throat, and the lizard was gratefully released, breathing in large lungful's of air.

Moments after Rockwell appeared, Slash charged in, swinging in hard with his mace, and knocked it into Newtralizer's chest with incredible force.

Newtralizer was thrown back a few paces away, gasping at the pain he had received, and glared hatefully at Slash, who soon returned the hateful stare standing by Leatherhead's side.

"Get out!" yelled the turtle mutant towards his former friend. "You and your buddies get far away from my lair!"

"This isn't over Slash!" said the Newtralizer, seeing that the tide had been cast for his defeat " I will have what I want, and then everyone here will pay!"

With that said, the Newtralizer ran out, with Snakeweed and Spiderbytes reluctantly following behind him. Soon, all three of the villains were gone, and peace once again rang in the Underground.

Sighing in anger, Slash looked upon all the destruction, and turned to his friends.

"Come on, let's clean up."

* * *

Minutes later, in the Underground, things seemed to be going alright. Rockwell was currently doing medical checks on all the mutants who had been injured during the fray, while Slash counted out the undamaged supplies. Fortunately, it seemed like the Newtralizer's rampage hadn't caused much destruction to their food sources, but perhaps another grocery run would be a good call.

Leatherhead had explained everything to Slash once Rockwell had finished healing his wounds. The crocodile hadn't suffered much damage in the fight, but things could have gotten a lot worse if Newtralizer carried out his execution plan.

"That freak was nothing but trouble from the first day I met him," thought Slash in his mind. Of course, back then, he was to slow to realize how much trouble the Newtralizer could be.

That was one reptile who had his own agenda, and he didn't care what it took in order to achieve his goals. Slash still remembered the time when the rotten lizard almost crushed him flat with the Kraang Walker. If Raphael hadn't saved his life, Slash would be dead by now.

That was the moment that Slash realized that the Newtralizer was no more an ally than an enemy. He couldn't be trusted, and never should be for the way he treated his friends.

However, during the Kraang Invasion, Slash soon found himself allying with the Newtralizer again, unsure of what to do since the aliens were tearing away everything he once knew and loved.

It was during that little experience that he formed the Mutanimals team, stopping the Newtralizer's plan when he broadcasted a threat that was to heinous to unfold.

"Now he's out for it again" mumbled Slash under his breath "Well that's not going to happen! Sorry Newt, but you'll have to think twice if we're going to let you fry New York!"


	24. Chapter 24: Shadows Among Cinders

**Ch.24: Shadows Among Cinders**

Thunder roared as pelting rain slashed down from the sky, leaving long, wet streaks dripping off of the pointed roof of the church, serving as Shredder's home.

Inside of the throne room, Shredder's minions gathered, bowing down as they tried to ignore the eerie sounds of the storm raging outside. No doubt this storm was a dark omen for whatever horror was soon to come.

Swallowing up just a little of his courage, Fishface dared to glance up and peer at his master's new mutated form. That disgraceful rat Splinter had let Shredder go for a swim in the mutation tank, and now the boss was forever changed.

Despite Fishface's sharp, animal eyes, the Shredder's new form lay hidden behind mostly shadows, with only a few beams of moonlight coming in through the windows to shine off the gleaming blades.

Cold shivers traveled down Fishface's scales. He didn't need to see the entirety of Shredder's new form to know it was deadly and dangerous. He would much rather face Shredder as a human than a mutant any day.

Finally, after taking a deep, eerie breath, Shredder spoke out his commands.

"Go" whispered out the villain, in his same cold voice " Go out and destroy them, and bring Hamato Yoshi to me."

"Yes Master Shredder," responded his mutant army, and in a matter of seconds they all left to go accomplish their tasks.

* * *

Meanwhile, back inside of the turtles lair, Master Splinter breathed in deeply as he held up a cup of tea to his lips, and drank in the healing liquid steaming in its bowl.

It seemed like ages since he had performed the ancient Japanese tea ceremony.

Back when his sons were younger, he had taught them this respectful art. They all shared a similar dislike towards the tea, and as they grew older, stopped partaking in the ceremonies as much as they could.

Except for Leo, who would join his master for tea on occasion, Splinter solemnly found himself performing this particular ceremony alone. Tonight however, he had the pleasured company of his beloved daughter.

"Mmm, delicious," said Karai setting down her cup.

"I am glad" said Splinter, gazing upwards with a small grin " I can almost feel Tang Shen smiling down from the heavens, happy to see that her family is whole once more."

"Bet she couldn't have predicted it would be like this" said Karai "This is all still strange to me. It's going to take a while to adjust, especially after all 'he's' done."

"You are not the only one who has to bear that pain" said Splinter, thinking about his sons who were out on their routine patrol, after many days of rest in the lair. " but I will always be here to guide you whenever you ask for my hand."

Karai nodded towards Splinter, and took another sip of her tea, fighting back the tears that threatened to flow from her eyes.

Forever in her heart, she knew what it must be like to be raised in a family. Under Shredder's care, she was raised more like a soldier, carefully molded into an invaluable weapon of revenge, just so Shredder could complete the last of his villainous deeds.

Rarely did the masked man ever openly display emotions such as love and kindness, not like Splinter did here. No, all Saki had sought for was control.

"Now I'm free of it" thought Karai "He can't control me anymore, and I won't him do it to anyone else, ever again!"

* * *

Meanwhile outside, in the city, the turtles were out on their routine patrol, jumping excitedly from rooftop to rooftop, forgetting all about the chaos that had plagued them these last couple of days. Finally, everything seemed to be at peace.

But, given their current reputation, Raphael knew that this peace wouldn't last long, not with threats like Shredder and Bishop still out there.

The red-masked turtle still growled at the thought of being drugged. Wasn't Shredder's mind control serum bad enough?

What was even worse was that the drug Donnie had found, had wiped out a small bit of Raphael's memory. Now every time Raph tried to remember something vicious about Bishop, there was a blur. Something about that sleazy government agent wasn't right, but he couldn't tell what.

Shaking the mystery from his mind, Raphael focused back on his jumps, trying to gain a lead on Mikey who had passed him at some point.

Something felt a little off by this night. Raph could feel it in his bones. He had almost refused to come out on patrol, but didn't say a word on account of his brothers may tease him for being afraid.

He had a tough turtle rep to keep up after all.

Suddenly, things went silent as Leo signaled for his brothers to stop, and they all stood still on the hood of the roof, waiting for the blue-masked turtle to speak.

"What's wrong Leo?" asked Mikey, unable to stand the suspense.

"Ssh!" hushed Leo, pointing over the edge of the roof.

Peering into the alley down below, the turtles looked see a large group of members gathered outside of a local store. By their tattoos and colors, it was easy to determine who they were.

"Purple Dragons," said Don.

The gang was clearly in the mood for another one of their stealing raids, looking to cash in on whatever valuable bauble they could find. With grunting effort, four of the gang members hefted up a large plank of wood and smashed it through the store window.

The window shattered on impact, leaving glittering pieces of itself lying on the ground. There was no alarm. Leo guessed that the Purple Dragons must have turned it off before trying to gain entry, a rare moment of thought for them. They were being extremely careful this time.

"Finally, some action!" said Raph, twirling out his sais.

Leo just shook his head at his brother's enthusiasm as the Purple Dragons entered into the store, barely able to contain the excitement flooding through his own veins.

Wordlessly, the leader slowly stood up from his crouching position and drew out his katana blades. Time to go kick some butt!

* * *

The store inside was dark, lined with many counters and shelves, providing perfect cover for the turtles as they tracked the Purple Dragons rummaging around the room.

Most of the shelves contained books and some other non-descriptive junk, hardly anything of valuable worth. Had they even cased the joint beforehand? What was here really to steal?

A clear area lay just ahead, and the turtles were forced to stop as the Purple Dragons crossed over to it, not daring to reveal their presence just yet.

"There's nothing here Fong," one of the Purple Dragons spoke.

"Yeah, what a rip" said Fong, turning to one of his fellow gang members " Nick, I thought you said this place would be crawling with jewels."

"Oh it will be worth it Fong" smirked the young man with a grin " trust me."

"What's really going to be worth it Nick" suddenly spoke out a voice that the turtles all recognized "is making you pay for what you did to Angel."

With that said, Casey Jones suddenly appeared, decked out in his full crime-fighting gear. A hockey stick was held tightly in his hands, as his blue-eyes glared with rage. He stared directly at Nick, the brown-haired teen only looking slightly amused by his old friend's presence.

"I knew you would show up Casey" said Nick, glancing at the vigilante " Still playing hockey I see. What, they didn't kick you out of the league after you hit your best friend in the face?!"

"That was an accident and you know it Nick" said Casey pointedly " but that still doesn't excuse what you've done. No one hurts my 'lil sis and gets away with it, especially for a stupid plot of revenge."

"I wouldn't call it entirely a stupid plot" said Nick, making Mikey gasp silently in his hiding place as he pulled a gun. "Just insurance so I can savor how sweet it really is."

The gun hammer cocked, and Raphael growled, furious at the gun aimed just inches from his friend's chest. No way was he going to let Casey die on his watch!

Without a warning to his brothers, Raphael suddenly broke cover and body-slammed into Nick, tackling him into the ground, and making the gun fire off away from where his best friend stood.

Leo, Mikey, and Don followed soon after, taking care of the other Purple Dragon gang members so they wouldn't try to stop Raph as he wrestled the gun away.

Casey was shocked to see that the turtles were there, but instantly put away his surprise to help his friends with their fight. Whirling his hockey stick around like a spear, Casey swung out hard at some Purple Dragon gang members, knocking them out cold to the floor.

In seconds, more than half of the Purple Dragon forces lay flat on the ground. The turtles and Casey were about to win the fight. That is, suddenly, when disaster decided to come in, and the face of a demonic-looking wolf pushed in through the newly shattered brick wall of the store.

"Hello Turtles" growled the eerie voice of Rahzar " time to play!"


	25. Chapter 25: Fight For Survival

**Ch.25: Fight For Survival**

Things had just gone from bad to worse. Never did Casey Jones imagine that this one night could turn out like this.

Ever since the mind control rescue thing from Shredder's lair, Casey's mind was still turmoiled by the thought of what Angel had told him days ago. Casey still couldn't believe the fact that Nick had joined the Purple Dragons. Nick had been his friend.

If it weren't for that rotten hockey incident, they might had never been torn apart. But the damage done was to severe.

There wasn't a day that passed by that Casey didn't remember his mistake. Right after that hockey game, he had traveled to the hospital to apologize to Nick, but was rudely turned down.

Weeks passed as Nick healed, and he started to attend school again. However, whenever Casey would pass by, Nick would turn and walk away, acting like Casey wasn't even there.

Then, one day, Nick stopped showing up for class, disappearing entirely from the school. Casey had assumed that Nick had probably moved away, until that is Angel explained what she had seen on that chaotic night.

Nick was back, and he was hanging with the wrong crowd. Worse than that, he was harboring a grudge, a grudge held over three years of his life of extended pain. Casey was determined to put an end to this rage, but first, Nick needed to be found.

So, for the past few days, Casey had tracked the Purple Dragons movements waiting for them to go on another stealing raid. It was good luck for him that Nick was part of this particular group tonight.

What was bad luck was almost getting shot in chest by Nick's gun, and then having a two hundred pound, mutant wolf come in and crash the party.

"Hello Turtles…Time to play!" growled Rahzar.

Panic settled in as the Purple Dragons got up and fled, preferring to not be on the other end of Rahzar's sharp claws. The turtles and Casey however stood their ground, readying their weapons for a big fight.

Tightening his fist around his hockey stick, a flash of movement suddenly caught Casey's eye, making him turn and see Nick go and run after his dragon pals.

For a moment, Nick stopped and locked his hateful eyes in Casey's gaze, before finally vanishing from sight. A deadly promise had just been made. One day, these two would meet again.

With a great roar, Rahzar finally broke through the damaged wall, and charged in, his jaws snapping at the turtles in search for fresh meat. He was immediately greeted with their sharp and precise blows, leaving painful cuts sliced across his dark skin.

A battle raged throughout the store. Shelves got knocked over, antiques broken, and at one point, Mikey scored a hit on Rahzar's head using a pair of cymbals. The mutant dog did not appreciate that one bit.

Now fully enraged, Rahzar chased the turtles out of the store and into the alley. He and Leo faced each other blade and claw.

Casey and the other turtles were running their minds about how to help, when a familiar, crazy shout directed their gaze.

Dancing up on the rooftop, Bebop came out of his invisible 'guise.

"Hey Turtles!" the mutant warthog shouted "Take this!"

And in an instant the alley was showered with laser fire. Casey and the others immediately got out of the way, but Leo, distracted by his fight with Rahzar, did not see the lasers coming and got hit right in the shell. The pain from the blast made the lead turtle tumble down to his knees, losing grip on his swords.

"Leo!" called Mikey, worried by seeing his brother get shot "Hang on, I'm comi…Aah!"

"Mikey!" shouted Raph and Don, as their little brother was just scooped up into the air by the unexpected appearance of Baxter Fly.

The mutant scientist had just come in without warning, and grabbed the orange-masked turtle as he was on his way to help his wounded brother. Seconds later, they were both mere dots in the sky.

Don, Leo, Raph, and Casey were now all left alone to fight Bebop and Rahzar.

Leo grunted over his wound as he dodged Rahzar's next attack, rolling over to reclaim his swords before standing back up on his feet.

"Raph, Casey!" shouted Leo " you guys go after Mikey. Donnie and I will take these goons."

"No way man!" protested Casey " You can't handle them all alone."

"We won't have to" said Leo " now go!"

"Fine," groaned Raph, reluctantly agreeing with Leo's choice, and pulled Casey away from the fight.

Without another word, the two dashed off through the streets, sliding through the alley's, until stopping to scale to another roof, where they could possibly guess where Baxter Fly flew off with Michelangelo.

"They were heading that way" said Raph, looking towards the eastern skies " so maybe we can…,"

"Oof!" suddenly came a grunt.

"Case?" asked Raph, turning around.

The sight that greeted his eyes, shocked the turtle to the core. There, lying flat on the roof, lay Casey, passed out by a heavy blow. And the deliverer of that blow stood above, smirking an evil grin. A grin that belonged on one of Raphael's greatest enemies…

"Xever!"

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the air, Mikey screamed as several rooftops passed from underneath his feet.

"Let go of me Fly-Dude!" yelled Mikey, trying to get out of Baxter's grip.

"Oh I intend to" said Baxter Fly " you make a nice splat on the ground."

If Mikey wasn't panicked before, that sick comment only served to rattle his nerves. Things couldn't end for him like this. He had to many things to live for; his family, Ice Cream Kitty, that pizza TV marathon he was planning next month.

Determined not to miss any of that, Mikey suddenly kicked up and smashed Baxter Fly right in the face. Immediately, the mutant insect let go of his catch, and Mikey started plummeting rapidly towards the ground.

Falling into an alley filled with clotheslines, where people would hang their laundry to dry during the day, Mikey reached out desperately for those thin threads, snagging a few before his fall finally slowed, and he was left hovering only a few feet from the ground.

"Whew!" breathed Mikey, relieved, then looked to see he was hanging next to an open apartment window.

Beyond that small opening, a man stood in his bathroom half-naked in a towel, and his eyes widened with horror as he saw Mikey hanging just outside.

"Oops!" said Mikey, as the man let out a scream of terror and was out of his bathroom as quick as a flash "Sorry pal! Now to go find my brothers."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the sewers, Karai breathed in the strange atmosphere of her new home as she explored the nearby tunnels that surrounded the liar.

After she had finished performing the tea ceremony with Splinter, Karai stretched her legs in the dojo for a little bit, and then decided to go out and explore.

Although the sewers were still not an ideal home in her opinion, Master Splinter and her turtle brothers had managed to call this home for years. Given time, maybe Karai's mind would adjust. This was the world where she truly belonged.

Then, just as Karai was about to turn the corner to enter another tunnel, she stopped dead and hid amongst the shadows, her ears pricked to the sounds of voices on the air.

"Are you this is the right way?" questioned Tiger Claw's familiar growl.

"Yes" answered Rocksteady's voice confidently " my comrade Bebop may have forgotten, but I still remember the way to their lair. We get close Tiger Claw, don't you worry."

Covering her mouth, Karai gasped, speechless to what she had just heard. Those two bigshots were heading right towards the turtles lair, either to destroy it or kill. Karai didn't care which.

Sprinting on her heels as fast and silent as she could, Karai ran towards home, hoping she could get there and warn her father in time…company was coming.


	26. Chapter 26: A Talk With Xever

**Ch.26: A Talk With Xever**

"Heh, heh" grunted Don, as he pinned shells with his brother Leo. The two turtles were now sandwiched between Bebop and Rahzar, looking for an opening to break out and attack. " Are you sure we should have sent Raph and Casey away Leo? Things are getting tough."

"We'll be okay Don" said Leo confidently " I have a plan. It's just going to take some fancy footwork to work out."

Quietly, Leonardo quickly whispered the plan to his brother. Donatello grinned as he finally understood Leo's strategy, and nodded his head, indicating that he was ready to act.

With a quick count to three, Leo reached into his belt, grabbed a smoke bomb, and threw it on the ground. A cloud of purple-black smoke immediately enveloped the two turtles, and Donatello charged out, running towards Bebop.

Seeing the threat coming his way, Bebop twisted his waist, firing lasers in all directions as the purple-masked reptile dodged. Meanwhile, Rahzar was wondering where Leonardo went. The mutant wolf didn't have to wait long.

While under the cover of the smoke, Leonardo had made a wall jump and dragon-leaped right on top of Rahzar's back.

Clutching the mutant's fur tight in his fists, Leo pulled back, making Rahzar howl out in pain, and then made him charge forward, towards Bebop, who had just been knocked off his feet by Donatello sliding home with his bo.

A sickening crash sounded as the two mutants collided, and Bebop and Rahzar ended up in painful heap, lying on the alley floor.

"Whew" breathed Donnie, looking down from the roof, as Leo climbed up to join him " I'm glad that's over."

"Yeah" Leo breathed " let's go find our brothers before they wake up."

Nodding in agreement, Don and Leo immediately ran out into the night, leaving their unconscious foes behind.

* * *

Meanwhile, some distance away, Michaelanglo was also searching for his brothers, trying to regain his senses after Baxter Stockman had dropped him from the sky.

"Ugh!" said Mikey, stopping in the front of an alley "I'll never my brothers this way. Wait a minute! My T-Phone!"

Chastising himself that he hadn't thought of this before, Mikey immediately got his phone out to call Leo when a small crash suddenly caught his ear.

"Huh?" said Mikey, turning around to see what could have made the sound.

For a moment, his baby-blue eyes stared tensely down the dark alleyway, searching for a sign that any bad guy could have followed him from behind. Seconds later, a cat emerged from behind a dumpster, releasing a hiss before dashing away into the night.

Mikey instantly relaxed, then went back to dial his phone. Soon, Leo's voice could be heard from the other end of the line.

"Mikey!" spoke the relieved voice of the elder turtle " Glad to see you're okay. Where are you?"

"Lost" said Mikey, in his end " that fly-dude took me a long way away. I think I'm close to Chinatown."

"Okay" responded Leo " We'll find you there a bit later. Me and Don are getting close to where Raph and Casey are. Head for the Dragon Gate and wait for us there."

"Got it, see you later bro!" said Mikey, hanging up his phone before he dashed off to meet his brothers at the rendezvous point.

As Mikey ran out of view, a dark figure suddenly melted out from the shadows of the alley, glaring after the orange band, his evil eyes glowing amber and bright.

* * *

The sounds of clashing blades rang clear through the night as two rival opponents faced each other in battle. Raphael could feel the sweat starting to form along his green skin, as heavy breaths seized his lungs.

Xever seemed to be getting tired, the poor fish mutant nursing the few cuts Raphael had managed to leave across his scales.

However, despite the damage both warriors had suffered, there was nothing in the world that would give Fishface and Raphael more of a thrill. Fighting was in their blood, there was nothing else that needed to be learned.

"You have improved much Raphael" said Fishface, grinning at his own compliment " your skill continues to improve each day."

"Ha!" laughed Raph, pointing a sai towards his foe " flattery will get you nowhere Fishface."

"Ah, but power will" stated Xever " just think of what you could have had Raphael, if you had stayed on our side."

"A mistake that won't happen again!" growled Raph.

"Are you sure?" said Fishface " You and I both know that we share a passion for violent things. With nothing good to hold you back, you could have been the most deadly warrior imaginable. Tell me, how did it feel to be free when Master Shredder injected that serum into you?"

"That wasn't freedom it was control!" said Raph, pointing his sais at Fishface "You and Shredder tried to make me do horrible things against my brothers, and for that I will make you pay."

"Did we?" asked Fishface, remaining spookingly calm " Or did your own darkness enjoy the pain? Loved that you finally let your true nature shine? Down deny it Raphael, deep down inside you know that you're evil, as dark as Shredder's heart."

"I've heard enough of this!" yelled Casey, surprising everyone as soon as he stood and tazered Fishface in the side.

Yelling out through the electric shocks of pain, Fishface tumbled over on his robotic knees, and was helpless as Casey dragged out one of his hockey sticks and finished off the bad guy by shooting him off of the roof.

A proud smile lit up Casey's face once his good deed had been down, and turned back to Raphael, hoping for a little appreciation of his skills. However, when Casey stared at Raphael's disturbed, green eyes his heroic smile faltered.

Raphael seemed to be frozen like a slump, stung by the cruelty of Fishface's words. Even though Casey hadn't heard them all while laying on the ground regaining consciousness, Fishface's words still struck a sore spot in Raph's heart.

Not knowing exactly what to say in order to make things right, Casey struggled to find the words, only to be stopped when Leo and Donnie suddenly appeared to make sure they both were okay.

Worrying about what Fishface said to Raphael would have to wait for another day. It had been a very long and eventful night. Time to head home.


	27. Chapter 27: Flaming Hate, Evil Soul

**Ch.27: Flaming Hate, Evil Soul**

Darkness was there to greet his eyes as Master Splinter woke wearily to the dank surroundings around him. Bars lay in front of him, just a few inches from where his head lay, blocking the passageway that promised freedom whatever his captors had planned.

A sigh escaped from the old rat's lips as he noticed that Karai was locked up in a cage as well, still unconscious after the fierce fight they had fought to defend their home. The memory of that horrible event came back to Splinter even now.

Soon after his daughter decided to take a stroll through the sewers, Master Splinter felt hungry and decided to get a cheese-sicle from Ice Cream Kitty. However, not long after he had sat down to enjoy his treat, a sudden sound came making him prick his ears with alert.

Something unwanted had entered the lair. Putting his cheese-sicle down, Master Splinter went to find out what.

As soon as he exited the kitchen, Master Splinter was caught by surprise as Rocksteady suddenly charged straight towards him, horn looking sharp and ready to pierce his chest. Deftly dodging out of the way, Master Splinter managed to avoid the deadly horn, only to be nearly shot by one of Tiger Claw's freezing blasts, smoke still smoking from his guns.

Now knowing that a double threat had invaded the lair, Master Splinter narrowed his eyes, and immediately set his sights on taking out his most powerful opponent first. Case and point being Tiger Claw.

As the tailless cat continued to shoot out his freezing blasts, Master Splinter swiftly dodged in and out of the blue beams. Striking quick to his opponent's hands, Master Splinter quickly disarmed Tiger Claw, making him growl with discomfort as his guns clattered to the floor.

Shaking off the pain from the hard blow delivered by the rat, Tiger Claw set his focus on a more serious approach, and pulled a machete from his belt. Rocksteady immediately moved in behind Splinter to help the tiger catch his prey. There was no more room to run, unless you wanted steel or horn poking through your side.

As his mind contemplated a way for him to get out of this situation, Splinter and the bad guys were suddenly shocked as Karai suddenly charged in, going full snake mode as she targeted Rocksteady.

The snake and rhino immediately engaged into their own fight, as Master Splinter took advantage of Tiger Claw's momentary distraction, tripped the tiger with his tail, and then grabbed the spare bo Karai was using earlier when she did her little training in the dojo.

Now armed and ready once more to fight, Master Splinter and Tiger Claw reengaged.

Meanwhile, in Karai's own fight with Rocksteady, things were proving troublesome for the great, lumbering beast. Even though he had overcome this serpent before, Karai's skills seemed to have increased since she had been Splinter, making this a much harder bout.

Hissing, Karai fiercely wrapped tail around the great rhino's bulk, and slammed Rocksteady hard into the ground, all three sets of her fangs poised and ready to strike. Though it was doubtful that her venom would even make it through his tough hide, Rocksteady knew that it was better than to take chances, especially when he knew how powerful that poison was first hand.

Looking for any way to escape Karai before she struck, Rocksteady's gaze landed upon one of the freeze pistols Tiger Claw had dropped. An idea lit up inside of the rhino's brain, as he reached out his only free hand to grab the gun, and then quickly turned over on his back, surprising Karai as she struck, and blasted a freeze blast towards the snake's face.

Crying out in unbearable shock and pain, Karai's vice-like grip on Rocksteady loosened, releasing the rhino from the confines of her tail. With a cry of joy, Rocksteady broke free, and then slammed his fists on Karai's ice-covered head, knocking the mutant hybrid out cold on the ground.

"No!" cried Splinter from his fight, shocked to see his daughter go down. But there was nothing the old ninja master could do, as he was swept to the ground and pinned by Tiger Claw.

The bo staff Master Splinter had picked up during their struggle had been sliced in two by Tiger Claw's machete, and now lay in broken pieces by his side. The tiger's foot felt heavy on his chest, as the machete gleamed, ready to kill.

"You have fought well" complimented Tiger Claw " almost as good as rhonin who sliced off my tail years ago."

"Yes" said Splinter calmly, even in the face of death " a tail is a most useful tool."

As that was said, Master Splinter's secretly twined around one of the broken pieces of woods, and then wielded it up quickly to block the blow from Tiger Claw's machete, making the villain's blade deflect and slash across his foot.

Yowling in pain, Tiger Claw released his foot pressure from Master Splinter's chest, allowing the rodent break free and stand. Readying his arms in a striking blow, Master Splinter charged in to quickly finish the tiger off.

The action seemed to move in slow motion as Master Splinter lunged in for that final strike. Just as his hands were inches from hitting their mark, Tiger Claw slightly ducked and then thrust out one of his palms, touching Splinter's chest.

Lightning sparked, making Master Splinter double-over in pain, something metal clung onto his fur. However, before he could discover what it was, Tiger Claw struck down hard, knocking him out cold. An evil smirk lit up on Tiger Claw's lips.

"The great Splinter falls," said Tiger, the turned towards Rocksteady " Come my friend, let us go back to Shredder with our prize."

That was the last memory Splinter had ever had about the fight, and now an even greater war approached them. Now that he and Karai were in Shredder's hands, who knew what horrors he would commit?

Splinter could only hope and pray that his sons had stayed that night and would come to their rescue. And if they could not, they would just have to figure a way out themselves.

* * *

It was late when the turtles finally arrived back at their lair. After dropping Casey off at home and reclaiming all of their lost members, there was nothing more than the four brothers wanted to do then rest and relax for the next day.

However, when they arrived back home, they were shocked to discover the mess that had been made. Evidence of a struggle could definitely be seen, and Master Splinter and Karai were nowhere in sight.

Worried, Leo and the others split up to search, Mikey heading into the kitchen where could hopefully find a snack to boost his blood. He was about to open Ice Cream Kitty's freezer when he noticed Master Splinter's cheese-sicle melting on the table nearby.

Worried, and yet at the same time very famished, Mikey picked up the cheese-sicle and began to eat it while walking out to tell his brothers what he found. By that time, Donatello had discovered something too, lying just underneath the wooden staircase that led to the lookout post above; a letter, written in Tiger Claw's hand.

_Turtles,_

_If you wish to get your family back, Master Shredder awaits you at his home. Come soon to save them, if any of you are alive to come at all._

If Raphael had been holding the note he would have crushed it in his hand, but he was standing farther away from his brothers, and settled for the hate burning in his eyes instead. Wordlessly, the red-masked turtle stalked over to Don's lab, Tiger Claw's threat boiling in his mind.

Those battles during the patrol were just a diversion so that Tiger Claw and someone else could enter lair, and both Master Splinter's and Karai's lives were on the line. So much rage boiled up in Raphael's blood, but he couldn't vent it out properly given that there was no proper target to hit.

In the middle of trying to regain control of his mind, Raphael's eyes glanced across to the gauntlets laying still on one of Donatello's lab tables. The weapons given to him by Shredder, accepted when he was no longer in control.

Fishface's words came back to haunt Raph at that moment, saying inside that he was dark as Shredder's heart. Raphael quickly dismissed off those words as lies, but thing inside him agreed, it was time for Shredder's dark heart to be scoured.

Coldly, Raphael approached the gauntlets and slid them onto his hands, relishing the touch of the smooth metal as he tightened it to his wrists. With these very weapons, he would end what should have done long ago; celebrating Shredder's demise.

Gauntlets now on hand, Raphael stepped out of the lab to see what kind of plan Leo thought the rescue mission should be. While walking, a red light from the lookout post suddenly caught Raphael's eye, and he focused his gaze to see what it could be.

His body almost froze in horror when he found out what it was. Tiger Claw and Rocksteady may have left the lair, but Rocksteady didn't leave without leaving a little present behind.

"Guys move!" shouted Raph, motioning for his brothers to dash out underneath the stairs.

Leo, Don, and Mikey looked confused for a moment, but obeyed, and just in the nick as the bomb above suddenly blew. The lookout staircase tumbled from above and fell, crashing just where the three brothers had been standing before.

Breaths of relief settled from all around as the dust cloud faded from the trap. Now all of the turtles eyes where settled in scared and angry glares.

Home was no longer safe, and Shredder's vile hand threatened all. It was time to enter the lair of beast, and defeat the monster had haunted them all.

* * *

Later, after the turtles left to handle Shredder's little invite, the dark figure who had followed Mikey here since spotting in that alley, entered the lair with ease, avoiding the damage the fight and the bomb had caused.

His yellow eyes gleamed as he searched the lair, creeping from room to room, until he finally stopped and entered through Raph's door. Yes, this was the place, the logical choice when he needed a place so easy for it to hide.

"Figures that he would entrust it to his former master,"

With that thought in mind, the figure bent down to search, hope beaming into his smile as he finally found the prize he had searched for so long.

Now that it was his once more, New York and all of citizens would soon feel a Salamanderian's wrath.


	28. Chapter 28: The Dark Heart Bleeds

**Ch.28: The Dark Heart Bleeds**

The night seemed to sit still in silence as the turtles, one by one, entered into Shredder's lair.

Inside his mind, Mikey was shaking like a leaf, remembering what happened the last time they had all come here, desperate to free Raph from Shredder's control. The image of Master Splinter pushing the Shredder's body into the vat of mutagen still rung clear. Who could tell what horror their enemy had become.

Moonlight seemed to mock the ninjas as it shined its beams through the stain-glassed windows of the church. It was ironic that such a sacred place had become Shredder's hideout when he decided to settle in New York.

Who knew what used to be worshipped here? By the number of secret rooms the Shredder had managed to build however, it was doubtful these walls once celebrated anything good.

Gasps of shock sounded from out of the turtle's mouths as they stepped into the throne room, and we're surprised to find it empty and bare. Shredder and his goons weren't here. Where else could they be?

Leo was about to suggest that they all turn and search the other areas of the fortress before the ground suddenly caved in from underneath their feet, plunging them into the dark pit below.

"Ugh," the turtles groaned, as they struggled to stand and stared at the darkness around, suddenly scared at whatever deadly trap the Shredder had laid.

A giant hiss sounded as fire burst out from the turtle's sides, lighting a path of sharp-pointed rocks that seemed to reach down deeper into the ground below. The water tanks that used to hold Fishface lay just below the rock and fire barrier, showing that the turtles were still beneath Shredder's throne room.

Another secret passage, and they hadn't known it was here. Just what horrors could this tunnel lead?

Knowing that standing wasn't going to help them find out, Leonardo took lead as he and his brothers traveled deeper into the cavern, following the shadows of the fire-lighted path.

It seemed like hours before the four brothers finally reached the tunnel's end, and when they stepped into the bright light of another chamber, their mouths dropped open with amaze.

What greeted their eyes was a massive, underground arena, built with golden-orange, and lighted by torches flickering eerie, red flames. Don was the most amazed by the architecture. It looked like to be an early combination Roman or Greek design, with just a pinch of Mayan added into the mix.

By the looks of the stones, it was clear that this arena had been built for thousands of years. Markings and statues lay decorating the walls, and the emperor's podium stood above two jail cells, holding Karai and Master Splinter inside.

Master Splinter seemed to be lying down, looking very broken and weak. While Karai was now wide awake, tied up hand and foot, with a gag over her mouth so that she couldn't speak a phrase.

Watchful in case any of Shredder's goons decided to pop in uninvited, the turtles immediately raced over to help free their sensei and Karai. Raph and Don immediately went over to open Splinter's cell, while Leo and Mikey focused on Karai.

As Leo was picking the lock on Karai's door, he couldn't help but notice that the ninja looked disturbed.

Karai was mumbling insistent through her gag, and was shaking her head 'no' at Raph and Don, who were almost finished freeing Splinter from his cage.

"Why is she telling us not to save Splinter?" Leo wondered in thought, before the answer hit like a jolt. "Unless….it's a trap!"

However, before the blue-masked turtle could turn and inform his brothers about the horrible mistake, the deed was already done, and the cage was open, setting Splinter free. And that's when he attacked.

Striking out with furious speed, Master Splinter began fighting against his own sons, pounding them with serious blows meant to do damage and make them cry out in pain.

Flashbacks to the Rat King flew throughout Leonardo's mind, as he and his brothers continued to defend against their father, not knowing what could have caused this sudden rage.

With a bang, Raphael was soon brought down, followed later by Mikey and Don. Baring his teeth, Master Splinter charged towards Leonardo next, who quickly blocked with swords.

Remembering Karai's warning that this wasn't their true father, the blue-masked turtle glared deep into the imposter's eyes.

"Game's over fraud!" said Leonardo, knocking Master Splinter away with a harsh kick. "Why don't you go and reveal your true form?"

"True form?" Raph, Don, and Mikey thought, confused. This was Master Splinter wasn't it? It couldn't be anyone else! Could he…?

"Hahaha!" laughed Splinter, in a familiar voice the turtles knew only to well.

Suddenly, the rat before the four reptiles changed into a demonic looking rat with silver, sharp-bladed armor, and cold, red eyes that promised to spread nothing but blood and death. His body was serpent-like, and his back and tail were lined with blades.

To complete the frightening look, large purple wings extended from his back, looking bat-like with red veins, giving it an eerie frame.

Even though the turtles knew they had never encountered this mutant before, it didn't take a hard guess to figure out who it was. After a moment of stunned silence, one brother finally managed to speak the deadly word.

"Shredder," said Mikey.

"Yes" answered the dark creature, a sinister grin lighting up his face " Look upon what your dear master has done. A demon now stands before you turtles. A nesumi bent on destroying your pathetic lives."

"Where's Master Splinter?" demanded Leo " What have you done?"

"You should be more concerned about yourselves" said Shredder, avoiding the question Leonardo had aimed " Before this evening is over, all of your family shall die. Now, suffer the darkness."

With that said, a large, thick, dark cloud suddenly seemed to explode from out of the Shredder's body, covering up the turtles and making them disappear into the black. Shredder's torture had only just begun.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in where he was trapped, the real Master Splinter sat brooding in thoughts, worried about what could be possibly happening from above, where the arena lay.

His sons were in danger, he could feel it in his bones. Karai had been taken away as well, to serve as bait. There was no telling what horror Shredder had just unleashed.

"I have to get out and help my family" thought Splinter, as he gripped the iron bars of his cage " But how can I do that without them knowing in the other room."

Not far from where Splinter's cell stood, Shredder's minions sat twitching in a nearby cavern, banned from the arena until Shredder decided to finish his murderous plot. Splinter's nose could almost smell the fear radiating off from their bodies.

Tiger Claw was the most calm one out of the group, his eyes closed to the tense atmosphere around him, while the others seemed disturbed or afraid.

Rahzar was the most solemn of them all, thinking about the punishment he had received when suggesting that Shredder shouldn't face the turtles alone. Shivers ran up the wolf's spine as he remembered the darkness that had engulfed his soul. It had felt like a miracle once Shredder finally allowed him to be back in the light.

Shaking his head of the disturbing thoughts, Rahzar looked over at the other end of the table, where Bebop and Rocksteady were quietly discussing if continuing to serve Shredder was a good idea.

"Can't say I blame their doubt" thought Rahzar to himself "even Xever seems to be on edge. I wonder where that fish got to. He should have been back from his walk by now."

Currently, unknown to Rahzar at that moment, Xever had been returning from his walk, when a sudden flash appeared barring his way.

With no sudden reason, a door had appeared, allowing a figure to step through and clock Fishface right on the jaw. Instantly, the villain was knocked out in seconds. Renet drew in a big sigh of relief, blowing off her time knuckles before heading over towards Splinter's cell.

She had to hurry before Lord Simultaneous realized she had taken the time scepter without his permission and stop to help another time. What was happening here was horrible, it had to be stopped. Surely one little good deed wouldn't harm that?

Finally reaching the area that housed Splinter's cell, Renet quickly froze time and set the rat master free. A moment later, the time sorceress disappeared, unfreezing time as she left, leaving Splinter to discover that he could now rescue his sons and escape.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the darkness of the arena, Leo drew out his katana blades, desperately searching the shadows around him for any sign of the Shredder's form.

His brothers had disappeared inside of this inky darkness, and Leo wondered if they were all still alive. Whatever the Shredder had done, whatever he tried to do to him or his family, Leo was determined to make the villain pay first.

"Hahaha!" suddenly chuckled out an evil voice from the dark, startling the blue-masked leader " Worried about your brothers Leonardo? Don't worry, they will perish soon enough, along with all your clan."

The mutated form of Shredder suddenly appeared, broadcasting a thin aura of white light. Leo immediately narrowed his gaze, and readied himself to attack.

"I'm not going to let that happen!" stated the leader firmly.

"Then fight!" said Shredder, and with that both foes suddenly charged.

* * *

Elsewhere in the darkness, Donatello stood staring around in confusion, his bo staff held out and ready to defend. His scientific mind was busy at work, trying to figure out his current location.

What had Shredder just done to them? Where did Leo and others go? Was everyone else alright?

The fact that these questions currently held no answers weighed deep inside of the turtle's chest.

"I have to find them, but how?" wondered Don, and then the purple-masked turtle was suddenly struck with surprise as an incredible force collided with the back of his shell.

Out of nowhere, the Shredder had suddenly appeared, carrying a gleaming katana blade in his hand.

"Ha!" laughed Shredder as Donatello stumbled for a bit before finally regaining his balance on the floor. "Pathetic! And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. You'll be to easy to kill."

"We'll see about that!" said Donatello, charging at Shredder, and using his staff to block the blade.

A great power struggle had begun, and Donatello wished that his other brothers were here to come to his aid. But he was all alone. Alone, with a madman, whose only wish was for him to die.

* * *

"Raph! Leo! Donnie!" Mikey cried out in fear as he stumbled through the dark. "Can any of you guys hear me?!"

Oh, how Mikey hated feeling so helpless! Shredder had them backed into a corner, and there seemed to be no way out of it!

"I knew the guy had gone mutant crazy" said Mikey to himself " but I never expected this. Of course, the villains aren't always this scary in the comic books."

"Uh…Help!" suddenly shouted a familiar cry.

"Wha…Donnie?!" said Mikey stunned, before running in the direction of the sound " Hang on Bro!"

In seconds, Mikey could just make out the faint image of his purple-masked brother, stuck in a battle for his life as Shredder came close to his chest with a sword. Swirling out his nunchucks, Mikey instantly jumped in to stop the deadly.

"Hiyah!" the turtle cried, slamming his foot into the side of Shredder, knocking the villain back as he followed with a number of nunchuck blows.

Shredder growled instantly in anger, as Mikey leaned down to see whether Don was alright. Don was stunned for a second by the fact Mikey was there.

"Where…where'd you come from?" he asked.

"Ask later Bro!" said Mikey, pointing towards Shredder " Time for you and me to take this guy!"

"Even with two turtles" claimed Shredder " the results will be the same."

With that said, the Shredder reached behind his back and pulled out a second katana blade. Two swords now gripped in his deadly hands, the Shredder charged once again towards his prey.

Both Don and Mikey instantly got ready to defend, countering back against the swords blow for blow.

"Having Raph or Leo here could really come in handy right now!" Mikey thought as he blocked another katana swing.

But there was no telling where his older brothers were in this place, and he only hoped that they could find them fast. Until then they would both need to help hold the Shredder back. Heaven hope they would survive.

* * *

Raphael was furious, growling at the dark as he walked. Worry plagued through his mind, wondering what Shredder had done to his bros, but he refused to show fear.

The gauntlets on his hands felt heavy and tense, while his sais rested on the back of his belt ready to be drawn.

"As soon as Shredder shows I'll be ready for him" Raph thought in his mind " Ready to kill."

"Really?" suddenly spoke out a voice stunning Raphael.

However, before the turtle could ready himself to attack, a razor-spiked tail suddenly lashed its way out of the darkness, constricting around Raph before pulling him into the air, his arms trapped inside of the coil.

Fire suddenly blazed to illuminate the space, revealing a rat-faced dragon with silver-bladed armor, fur-coated claws, and dark red scales. His eyes glowed like evil moons, and he had two giant, purple wings that stretched out wide.

This was Shredder's ultimate nesumi form, and Raphael could barely hold back the fear and rage burning in his eyes.

"But it's not me you'll kill my pawn" said Shredder, meeting Raphael level with his gaze " I'll make sure of that."


	29. Chapter 29: Splintered Souls

**Ch.29: Splintered Souls**

Meanwhile, in her cage, Karai was struggling hard to break free from her bonds, wriggling and clawing to get the ropes off of her hands and feet. Worry and frustration warred in her mind.

She needed to get out and break free, otherwise her brothers would be responsible for ending each other's lives.

Shredder had grown even more dangerous now that he had taken on a mutant form. From what he had done, he could truly be called a nesumi from Japanese lore.

Karai's mind reflected back on all of those demon legends even now, part of memory flashing back to the moments when Shredder had acted father-like towards her, and told her these scary tales just before she went to bed. A trait that the Shredder definitely lacked now.

According to the tales, nesumi were rat-like demons who thrived in the power of shadows, and twisted the darkness inside of peoples heart, causing great pain and distress to anyone they encountered.

These dark powers are what worried Karai now. For her mutant brothers were fighting each other, blinded to the truth of who they were trying to kill.

But Karai's eyes were not blind in the darkness the Shredder had cast. Thanks to her snake-like mutation, the young ninja could instantly tell just where her own brothers were.

Karai nearly flinched as she watched Leonardo swing at Donnie and Mikey with his swords. His attacks were brutal, merciless, and it took the younger turtles everything they could to defend. Blood was pouring out from multiple cuts to their bodies. Karai only prayed that they could themselves alive.

Again Karai struggled, but the ropes that bound her remained taught, as well as the gag wrapped around her mouth, drowning out her screams.

Her eyes glared at Raphael, who had almost stood perfectly still the moment this blackness occurred. If Shredder was somehow prodding Leonardo to attack his own kin, why hadn't he made Raphael do the same?

Was Raph struggling to stay in control? His face looked contorted with pain!

"Snap out it Raphael!" screamed Karai in her mind " Fight back! Your brothers need you now!"

"Miwa," suddenly sounded a welcoming voice to all of this chaos.

"Splinter!" thought Karai joyfully, turning to meet the comforting gaze of her dad.

Splinter smiled at the sight of his daughter's cheer, and quickly undid the lock to her cage. The gate slid open, allowing the mutant rat inside, and he busied himself removing her gag and bonds.

"We have to help the others!" Karai spoke once she was free.

"Where is Shredder?" questioned Splinter, noticing the current absence of his foe.

"I don't know," admitted Karai. Soon after he had cast the darkness, Karai's visual upon Shredder had disappeared. There was no telling where he was hiding now.

Grabbing Splinter's hand as they rushed out of the cage, Karai was suddenly shocked when a great force suddenly tackled them both from the side. Splinter's hand immediately slipped from out of Karai's grasp, and young kounchi stood confused to where he could have gone.

When her eyes finally found him, Karai's gaze widened in surprise beholding a bizarre scene. Two Master Splinter's now stood a few feet away growling at each other, claws out and fangs bared.

"I wondered when you would come Yoshi," stated the first Splinter, who had helped Karai, morphing back into his original state. "You may have come in time to save Karai, but not your precious sons. They're already to deep under my spell."

"Stop this madness now Saki!" demanded Splinter, gesturing with his hand.

"I don't think I will," said Shredder, preparing himself for a fight.

At that moment, Raphael surprised everyone by suddenly being on the move, twirling out his sais as he lunged for Shredder's chest, determined to land a lethal blow. Whatever trance that the Shredder had the red-masked turtle under was seemingly gone, and Raph's green eyes blazed with fury.

Master Splinter immediately moved in to aid Raphael in Shredder's assault, and the two ninjas chased the villain around the arena, determined to bring them down.

Karai stood amazed for a second by what had occurred, before shifting her focus back on more important matters at hand.

Not far away, Leo, Don, and Mikey were still trying to end each other's lives. It was time to put a stop to it, once and for all!

* * *

Hard breaths leaked from out of Donatello's mouth as he and Mikey were again thrown back by Shredder's double swords. Fresh cuts and bruises bled from both of the younger turtles bodies. If things kept up at their current rate, both Don and Mikey were very likely to die.

Inside in his head, Donatello's brain worked frantically to discover a way out of their desperate situation, but unfortunately found none. Shredder in his new mutant body had proved to tough to defeat.

His martial arts skills were unmatched anywhere in the ninja world.

It was that sudden thought that highlighted a major error inside of Don's brain. Something about this whole situation didn't seem right.

The katanas…the moves that Shredder used to strike every blow, were more similar to Leonardo's techniques. And since when did the Shredder use anything to attack besides his own blades? He never used swords, unless the gauntlets were closer at hand.

Again the Shredder moved into attack, slicing his katanas right towards Don and Mikey's skulls. However, seconds before the deadly steel could reach, Karai suddenly slithered in with her snake form and knocked Shredder away. Don and Mikey both released grateful sighs of relief.

"Karai, how did you get…?"

"Later Donatello!" interrupted Karai "You both should know that we've all been trapped in an illusion by Shredder. The opponent you've been fighting against all this time was Leonardo!"

Shock surged through both of Don and Mikey's shells.

"No way!" said the orange-masked turtle, stunned.

"No wonder I recognized some of his moves," thought Don in his head.

Shredder had created a clever trap, making them think that Leo was the enemy this entire time. There was no doubt that their blue-masked brother now saw the same.

They all needed to get it out of his head that they weren't his enemies. But how could make proof of that?

* * *

Sweat beaded across of Leonardo's flesh as tired breath's dripped from his mouth. Worry was starting to slowly creep up his spine. Shredder had multiplied during his former assault. Three villains faced him now, all looking armed and ready to kill.

There wasn't going to be an end to this fight. Shredder would keep driving him mad until he gave up or finally got killed.

"What's a matter?" mocked one of the Shredder's, glancing at Leo cold " Didn't you vow to destroy me? Come now, here's your chance."

Leo braced his katana blades, but suddenly found himself unable to move. Something was restricting him, forcing him not to proceed. Was it some kind of warning that he shouldn't continue to fight?

In a second a hissing sound sounded close by to Leonardo's ear.

"Leo…Wake up!"

"Karai?" asked Leo, immediately recognizing the tone.

"This isn't real!" thought Leonardo finally.

This was all just an illusion that Shredder had created in his mind.

Relaxing his stance, Leo set down his swords, and then slowly started to breathe in and out, meditating in his mind.

A white glow surrounded the blue leader's body for a second before the entire illusion of darkness shattered, and he was able to see the grateful looks of Don, Mikey, and Karai, all looking very relieved.

"Glad you're back to normal guys," said Karai, shifting back into her normal form.

"Yeah, thanks Sis!" said Mikey, and then his focus turned back to Raph and Splinter, who were just finishing their Shredder fight.

* * *

To Raphael's eyes he was still in the dark. The darkness that Shredder had conjured up just to ensnare them all.

Moments ago, he had found himself alone, facing the Shredder one on one, slowly being crushed to death by the terrible grip of the rat-dragon's tail. If that wasn't the worst of the horror, Raphael had been forced to stare into Shredder's soulless, red eyes, and been made to listen to his eerie-sounding words as, bit by bit, they clawed in, seeping poison into his mind.

The darkness seemed to grow thicker, and Raphael could slowly feel himself start to disappear, despite his fury struggling for him to be free.

He might had soon been lost, had not a miracle happened right there and then.

When Splinter came in and knocked Shredder away from almost harming Karai, a light had entered Raphael's darkness, and now he could finally see his foe.

Anger burned up deep from within Raph's soul, and he burst himself out of the dragon's tail, swinging fatally at Shredder with his deadly blades.

All of the torture and torment ended right here! He and his brothers weren't puppets for the Shredder to control! His evil deeds had caused nothing but pain for them and this city, and it was time to set the record right!

Master Splinter joined Raphael in his assault, aiding the red-masked turtle whenever he saw the need. A fearless ninja master, and a grumpy turtle on the rampage…Shredder had better pray that he wouldn't meet defeat.

A fierce clash ensued with blades, claws, and kicks all countering against each other. The foes knew each other well.

Shredder was strong, and his new mutated state he proved even more difficult to corner. Sweat poured off Raphael's green skin. This was a very hard fight, and either side was likely to win.

Fortunately, the battle seemed to lean towards good guy's favor as Raphael finally managed to sweep Shredder off his feet with a low kick, and then Splinter pinned him the rest of the way to the ground.

"Woohoo!" cried Mikey's voice from somewhere in the dark. "They've got him!"

For a moment, Raphael's attention turned away from where Shredder was pinned, and he tried to find where his brother yelled in the dark.

"I hope Leo and the others are okay," thought Raph in his mind.

He hadn't been able to see any of his brothers once they had stepped into this nightmare. Though if Mikey was yelling, everything must be okay.

However, just as Raphael was feeling relieved that all of this chaos was over, something happened to change his tune.

"Raphael! Help me!" pleaded Splinter's voice to his ears.

Turning back around to where the fight had stopped, Raphael gasped with amaze when he no longer noticed Shredder cowering under Splinter's feet, but Master Splinter begging at the heel of Shredder's toe.

"Hahaha!" laughed Shredder, extending out his gauntlet blades. "Say your goodbyes turtle. Yoshi's death is now!"

"No!" cried Raph, running to stop the villain before he could strike.

But Shredder's blade was closer to Splinter's chest, and they reached through the flesh, killing Splinter dead before Raphael could even reach to defend.

"Nooo!"

Tears welled up in Raphael's eyes as he gazed upon his master's final moments of pain, before the breath of life finally escaped his soul, and he lay cold and lifeless on the ground. The Shredder grinned, smiling in triumph, blood dripping off of his metal claws.

"Finally" breathed Shredder " after all this time…I've won."

That comment only made Raphael tighten his fists with rage, as he activated the gauntlets on his hands, sliding out the deadly blades. All of the hatred that he felt towards Shredder suddenly erupted in a burst.

There was no conscious thought, just action, and a single word that kept on repeating through the enraged turtle's skull.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!

From off in the distance, it sounded like voices were shouting, begging for Raphael to stop, but the red-masked turtle continued on in his rage, and sliced his deadly claws right through Shredder's chest.

The thrill of revenge only lasted a moment as a shrill scream suddenly sounded and shattered the dark.

Raphael finally found himself waking up into the light, horror and confusion greeting him as he beheld a horrible scene.

Shredder had been knocked out and was still pinned by Master Splinter, and Raphael's brothers stood just a few feet away, terror reflecting in their wide eyes.

Those eyes instantly told Raphael that something was wrong, and he followed their stares down to a gruesome scene, lying just inches in front of Raph's own feet.

The body of their newly beloved sister, Karai, now lay cut and bleeding on the floor, a gash struck right in her side. She had suffered a blow that had been aiming for Splinter, and paid the ultimate price to save his life.

But the mere shock of Karai's sacrifice, was not more shocking than who aimed the killing blow.

Looking down at his hands, Raphael became stunned as he finally realized who delivered that fatal blow. The gauntlets blades were still extended and were stained fresh with blood.

It was her blood. Karai's blood. His sister's blood.

Raphael had killed Karai.


	30. Chapter 30: A Brotherhood Dies

**Ch.30: A Brotherhood Dies**

For a moment, everyone stood frozen, hardly able to believe the sight of horror lying before their eyes. Splinter's gaze was among shock and tears, while Mikey and Don looked like they wondered what just happened was real.

There was no doubt in Leo's eyes, just a mixture of sadness and fury. His dark blue eyes glared at Raphael, who looked lost and confused to what he had just done.

However, before any fury could be taken out on the red turtle, Shredder's henchmen arrived, with Rahzar leading the charge.

"Get them!" shouted the mutant wolf, as he and his group of fiends came in to attack.

At that moment, the turtles and Splinter's survival instincts kicked back in, and they moved quickly in order to escape.

Scooping up the bleeding Karai fast in his arms, Master Splinter quickly ran to where Leo and the others stood, with Raphael following behind.

Once both Raph and Splinter had reached their destination, Mikey and Don each threw down a pair of smoke bombs, blocking them from the bad guy's sight.

"Raar!" growled Rahzar, as he sliced at the black-purple cloud.

His claws met nothing but air. When the cloud finally vanished it was clear that the turtles had escaped their sight.

"Grr!" growled Rahzar " We'll get you next time turtles. I swear it."

* * *

A few minutes later, down deep in the sewers, a tense atmosphere had settled down as Donatello leaned next to Master Splinter, carefully checking Karai's wounds.

Raphael had never seen his father look so sad, and felt his heart overflow with guilt as he watched the whole process from afar.

Not long after they had escaped, Leo had pushed Raphael away from Karai, his eyes angry and cold. Raphael did not fight with that look, and stood away, feeling torn from the family bond.

A spark of hope lit up on Donnie's face as he realized that Karai wasn't dead quite yet, but was quickly losing the fight. The wound that Raphael had cut in with his Shredder's gauntlets had been deep, but the purple-masked turtle worked quick to stitch it so his sister could survive.

However, this was a battle long past lost. Too much blood had been split, and in a matter of minutes, Karai would finally die.

Before the light completely vanished from her eyes, Karai gazed up, looking at all of her family members, and whispered aloud so that they all could hear.

"To think…" she gasped " this is the end…just after…I found….my family."

Her eyes rested on Master Splinter as the turtles gazes went down.

"Dad…" continued Karai " I love you."

"And I love you too my little Miwa," said Master Splinter, holding Karai's hand.

Karai slipped nodded and finally breathed, her mind slipping back into the dark. Steadily, her pulse began to slow, until it finally stopped, indicating that she was dead.

The tense atmosphere intensified, as the whole Hamato family simply gathered around and mourned. Raphael, still standing far away, looked angrily at the gauntlets on his hands, still stained with Karai's blood.

With a jerk he tore them away and threw them on the filthy sewer ground. He never wanted to see those weapons again. They could rot for all he cared.

Finally, the silence was broken as Master Splinter at last stood up from Karai's body and spoke out loud.

"Come, let's go home."

"I don't know if home is safe anymore Sensei" said Donatello honestly " Shredder knows where we live now. We can't go back."

"Then where else we could go?" asked Mikey solemnly.

"Slash" breathed Raph a little quietly, although he suddenly knew he was the target of his family's stares. " We're going to see Slash."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Underground, Slash was slowly shaking his head in disappointment at the failure of locating his old 'friend'. The large turtle still couldn't believe that the Newtralizer had attacked them like this.

Why strike now, after the whole was still recovering from an alien attack?

"He just wants to make sure they're gone" thought Slash in his head " but if he finds that device, the whole world could end."

Suddenly Slash was disturbed from his thoughts when he was informed that visitors had arrived.

Leatherhead and Rockwell were still busy at work repairing the Underground lair, so it wasn't in the best shape for guests to see. But the group that entered didn't care, and Slash's eyes widened in shock when he realized the visitors were his family.

Each one of them bore a deep frown upon their face, and before Slash could ask the reason why, he saw the answer being gently carried in Don and Mikey's arms.

"My God," whispered Slash, and then called over Mondo and Muckman to help the two brothers carry Karai's body where it could properly be laid.

Master Splinter smiled gratefully towards Slash to the help with their burden, and slowly began to explain to the large reptile what they had endured back at the Shredder's lair. Slash was horrified by the torment they suffered, and agreed when Splinter asked if they could stay, just until they found a new home.

Calling Rockwell away from repairs so that he could show Splinter around, the mutant monkey led Master Splinter away from the entrance and deeper into the room. Leo followed in Splinter's footsteps, throwing a harsh glare at Raph before turning and walking on.

The threat was not lost to Slash as he looked his former owner, who still stood at the mouth of the door, still, with his head down, and an expression of anger and grief on his face.

"Raphael?" asked Slash calmly, speaking to the red-masked turtle.

Slowly, Raphael lifted his head, looked at Slash, shook 'No', and walked away. He was not in the mood to talk about how he feels.

Sighing in defeat that he now had more problems to deal with, Slash glanced around the Underground and noticed that he should fetch more supplies since extra guests came.

Hefting his mace to his belt, Slash geared up and walked out, back to his former home, the turtles lair.

* * *

"Meow," greeted Ice Cream Kitty, as Slash opened the fridge to scoop up the desert-flavored feline.

"In you go Kitty," said Slash, dropping the cat into the cooler before closing up the lid.

At least the kitchen didn't look to badly damaged compared to the rest of the lair. The den area had been completely messed up, shattered debris from Tiger Claw's bomb affecting every corner of the room.

"Well" thought Slash, setting the cooler down along with the rest of the stuff he had gathered, that he thought they might need. " I guess that's all, but…Hmm."

Without a word, Slash headed over towards Raphael's room, opening up the door to distant memories back when he was an un-mutated turtle, listening to his master's needs. Those times seemed so lost now.

Shaking off the memories from his mind, Slash immediately started to bend down and search through Raphael's stuff, keeping a lookout for a very special device hidden away.

The minutes passed, and Slash's frustration grew when he could not find what he was looking for. The device seemed to be no longer here.

Then where could it be? Where?! If it fell into the hands of 'him', then the entire world was doomed.

**The End**

**Author's Note: This fanfic turned out way longer than I originally thought it would be. I will have to extend this story to a sequel in order to continue the plot. So be on the lookout soon for the sequel to Beyond Control titled Twisted Loyalties. Good day my reviewers. Glad you enjoyed the fic.**


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